The End of Heartache
by Jacqi Kennedy
Summary: Sequel to If. Bonnie learns more magic, something's terribly wrong with Lily, and Damon is still... Damon. And Of course someone's plotting against the group, because it is Mystic Falls.
1. Killswitch Engage

**Author's Note****: **_So this is just like... I guess the prologue to the new story. I still own nothing, except the stuff I make up, and the people too I guess. My beta is still awesome! You guys are awesome too and should review._

* * *

As soon as the foursome had left the woods, Andrew pulled himself from the earth.

The little succubus had really thrown a monkey wrench into his entire plan. He knew he could have handled the vampire and the witch, so he really hadn't been expecting Lily to do any kind of damage. Now he realized how terribly wrong he had been, but the girl had also given him a chance to see that she was powerful herself.

The first step in his plan had been simple and had gone so smoothly, that he had just been counting down the hours until he had both girls in his possession and back home. The group and Bechard had fallen for everything so easily, and had helped him in getting rid of the bothersome man, and all the while getting a glimpse at what Bonnie was capable of.

Seeing the witch in action had been very entertaining and very impressive for such a young girl. The last thing he had expected during that ordeal, had been the werewolf.

He had watched the group part, the witch with the vampire and the succubus with the werewolf. He'd followed Lily and her wolf, back to the girls' house and watched them for a little while before going to the vampire's house. There he found a little more activity.

The next day bumping into the girls, actually touching and smelling them had been a bit too much. He hadn't planned on capturing them for a few more days, but being that close to them was overwhelming. So instead of waiting patiently, and observing them more, he'd jumped the gun. And realized that maybe he wasn't as prepared as he had thought.

Now, standing in the middle of the woods, he realized that he yet again had an advantage. They all thought he was out of the picture.

* * *

So he decided to take a train back to California and as he let the gentle rocking of the train lull him to sleep, he tried to think of a way to get rid of the vampire and werewolf.

When the train stopped in San Diego, he grabbed his luggage and climbed out of the train car, and stepped onto the platform. He calmly made his way to the parking lot and on his way to his car he saw a woman struggling to get her luggage out of her trunk.

"Hello," he said as he approached her from the front of her car, not wanting to startle her. "Do you need some help there?"

The woman turned to face him, hazel eyes warm and welcoming. "That would be fantastic."

Easily he lifted the bag from the trunk of the car, before he turned to her. "Pack more than you can lift?"

"I always do." She laughed. "That's why I usually get here an hour earlier than necessary, because I always end up fighting with my bag."

Giving her his most charming smile, he asked, "Well since, I'm assuming, you have an extra hour before you depart, would you like to grab a drink with me inside."

She returned the smile. "That would be acceptable."

Andrew quickly placed his bag in his car, before he made his way back to the woman and began to escort her back to the train station.

"So, my name is Andrew."

She stopped and extended her hand. "Amelia." A warm smile plastered on her face.

He couldn't fight the smile that washed over his face as well. He had a feeling, this beautiful woman, was going to brighten his week.


	2. A Bid Farewell

Bonnie sat on the bed as she watched Lily pack. She really didn't want to think about how she was going to make it without her cousin around. Yet she smiled and listened to the girl talk enthusiastically as she threw clothes into her suitcase.

When Lily saw the look on Bonnie's face, she immediately stopped packing and launched herself into the girl's arms.

"Don't even act like this Bon."

"I'm sorry, if I'm going to miss you." She admitted as she let her go.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You shouldn't. I mean, not when you have that hot piece of _jerk_ ass vampire around to keep you occupied." This said with dramatic pelvic thrusts into the air.

"But still..."

As Lily started to pack again she reminded her. "It's only for two weeks."

Bonnie lay back in bed. "But, you don't have to go."

"I can't spend Christmas break away from my mom, and she really wants to meet the reason why I now require birth control, so yeah, I need to go."

The two were quiet for a while.

"So, you and him are getting kinda really serious."

Lily looked through her dresser before she found the bikini she was looking for and threw it at the open luggage. "Yup."

"That's good."

With her back still turned to the witch Lily asked, "And how are things with you and Damon?"

Bonnie propped herself up on her elbows. "I don't know."

Lily turned and faced her. "What the shit kind of answer is that? How are things with you guys? Are you madly in love? Are you fighting? I haven't seen him around in the past few days."

Again falling back onto the bed Bonnie confessed, "He skipped town a few days after my birthday."

"That was over a week ago; where'd he go?"

"You know when people generally skip town they don't usually tell anyone where they're going."

Sitting beside Bonnie, Lily responded with, "That's not always true."

"Well he didn't tell me," Bonnie snapped.

Lily stood, walked back to her dresser, and began to finish up her packing. "Well I'm sorry your boyfriend is a dick."

Instead of saying anything Bonnie rolled onto her stomach and buried her face in a pillow.

"When he gets back, I'm assuming you're going to rip him a new one."

"Damn it Lily, why can't you pick up the hint that I don't want to talk about it?"

At this moment Lily's bedroom door opened and Tyler stuck his head in. "Hey Bonnie," he said before he made his way to his girlfriend. "Hey kid, you ready to go?"

The girl quickly zippered her luggage shut before she handed it to Tyler. "Yeah, let's go."

Tyler watched Lily leave the room and looked to Bonnie before he asked them. "You guys aren't going to hug goodbye or anything?"

"She won't mind her own business," Bonnie responded at the same time Lily answered, "She's being a bitch."

"It's not good to leave one another on bad terms like this," Tyler said. "What if something bad happens to one of you and you never see each other again."

"Whatever," Lily said stepping out of the room. Yet Tyler quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back into the room, before he gave her a stern look. "Fine. **I will now bid farewell** to Bonnie Bennett, who needs to not take her anger out on me, because her boyfriend is a mondo douche."

Bonnie looked to her cousin before she waved a dismissive hand at the girl. "Can you leave now?"

Lily left the room and slammed the door, with Tyler still inside.

He gave the witch a weak smile before he said, "See you later Bonnie."

She nodded. "Have a safe trip."

* * *

Elena paced Bonnie's room as she ran her fingers through her hair. "Honestly, I didn't even know he was gone until Stefan mentioned it a few days ago." She plopped down in the window seat. "I wanted to bring it up to you, but I know how you are, and I didn't want to upset you. Plus I knew you'd talk when you were ready."

This caused Bonnie to pound her fists down to her sides, striking the bed. "Which Lily doesn't seem to understand." She saw the look Elena was giving her. "Her and I kinda got into it before she left, and well… her departure wasn't very pleasant."

"You need to apologize to her when she calls. What if something happens? You really don't want your last encounter being something unpleasant, do you?"

Bonnie shook her head. "Of course not, but yeah, you're right. I'll apologize when she calls after her flight lands. She just pissed me off."

"But you have to remember, she doesn't know you as well as I do." Elena looked at the frost on the outside of the window. "Knowing Damon he probably went somewhere warm for a little bit. You know how everyone gets in the winter; if they can go somewhere warm, they're gone."

Standing Bonnie reminded her, "But I'm supposed to be someone important to him. He could have at least told me so that I wouldn't be worried."

Elena couldn't fight the eyebrow that shot up to her hairline. "You're worried about Damon."

"I'm not worried about him getting hurt, where ever he is. I'm worried about what I'm going to do to him when he gets back."

Looking to the desk, across the room, Elena saw the leather jacket that was draped across the back of the desk chair. "He left his jacket here?"

With a roll of her eyes Bonnie stated. "He left it when he stopped by early on my birthday. I'm assuming it was meant as a gift."

"Don't act like that," Elena chastised. "I'm sure you were absolutely ecstatic when he handed it to you. He probably acted all nonchalant about the whole ordeal too."

"Of course he did. He's Damon Salvatore, and it's not cool to actually care about something or someone you claim to love." Bonnie snatched the jacket up before she handed it to Elena. "Take this back to their house, the next time you go over there, please."

Elena looked down at the jacket before looking back at Bonnie. "Are you sure about this?"

Turning her back to her friend and the jacket Bonnie stated, "I need to **severe the ties**, because we both know… well at least I have a feeling in my gut that he **will never be satisfied** with me." She frowned as she attempted to dry her eyes with her sleeve. "He just makes me feel as if he's not satisfied with me, and he's a jerk and there are some things about him that bother me endlessly, and I'm always **hoping for a change** in him. And that's not like me El. I never want anyone to change…"

"But you want him to change because you love him Bon, and you want him to be what you want so that you'll be happy with him." Elena found herself defending the M.I.A. vampire.

"I am happy with him, some of the time…" the witch groaned. "I don't know what I want." She stopped herself. "Correction. I don't want a _boyfriend_ who thinks it's okay to just up and leave for over a week, with no explanation."

Elena made her way towards her friend. "I'm going to leave so you can sleep on this decision."

The green eyed teen shook her head. "It's already made. Damon doesn't care enough to keep me from worrying about him, so I don't care enough to call myself his _girlfriend_, and worry about him when he goes missing."

Grabbing the doorknob Elena stated. "Just because you're not going to be calling yourself his girlfriend, doesn't mean you're going to care any less."

* * *

The witch woke in the middle of the night, when she felt a chill run across the back of her neck. She rolled onto her side, before looking to find her window cracked open. After sitting up in bed, she turned on the lamp on the nightstand, and wasn't the least bit surprised to find Damon sitting at the foot of her bed, watching her.

Falling back into bed, she turned the light off before pulling her quilt over her head.

In a few seconds, Damon was sitting at her side.

"What's your deal?" he asked. "This is supposed to be the part where you jump my bones, because you missed me so much." He turned on the bedside lamp before he demanded, "Seriously, are you really this mad about me leaving."

The petite girl sat up. "Yeah, I am upset, that my now _former_ boyfriend decides it's okay to just up and leave for over a week, without telling me anything, or returning any of my phone calls."

Damon frowned at this. "It's just… I got a lead from a friend, who said he knew where Katherine was—"

"You need to leave now," she told him before turning out the light.

"If you let me—"

"Just go away Damon."

He crossed the bedroom and made his way to the window. "Well, despite you being unreasonable, I still love you. And whenever you get over being mad, and actually want to listen to what I have to say, then you know how to get a hold of me."

She rolled her eyes. "If you've learned how to answer the phone."

Yet instead of getting a snarky reply from him, she heard the sound of the window shutting firmly behind him.


	3. Take This Oath

**Author's Note****:** _Show me and my beta some love by reviewing, cause we're kinda cool. Well, I'm sure she's super cool... me, not so much :(_

* * *

When Elena stepped into the kitchen, wearing only a pair of barely there shorts and a tiny tank top, she couldn't do anything but try to cover herself with her hands when she saw Damon sitting at the table with a cup of coffee in hand.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to try and sneak a peek at your _goodies_," he assured her.

She made her way to a cabinet and grabbed a bowl, before reaching in another and grabbing a box of cereal. "Shouldn't you be over at Bonnie's begging for forgiveness?"

He smirked. "Went over there last night."

"And…"

"And she got all upset, for some stupid girly reason when I tried to explain to her why I was gone for so long."

Elena finished preparing her breakfast before she sat across from him and asked, "And what exactly was the reason?"

He waited and answered her while she was munching on a mouthful of corn flakes. "I found Katherine."

Just as he expected the girl choked on the food in her mouth. After her throat was clear she set down her spoon and looked up at him. "You're kidding."

"Not at all. I actually saw her for a brief minute."

Elena continued to eat.

After a few minutes of silence she spoke again. "Well, I can understand why Bonnie would be upset if you told her that you went missing for ten days, to go and find the woman you were pining over for over a century."

"I wasn't going to fuck her."

"Well…"

He let out a breath, as if she should have already known. "I was going to kill the stupid bitch."

"Why?"

Again he let out a deep breath, not believing how dense this teenage girl really was. He rested his elbows on the table, and his chin in his hands. "After all the stories you heard, do you really think Katherine will let me and Stefan live happily ever after with our new girlfriends? Especially one that looks just like her."

Elena nodded. "I guess you're right." She thought for a second. "She just seems so dangerous."

"This from a girl that is dating a vampire, her brother is dating a vampire, her best friend is a witch, with a succubus for a cousin, who is dating a werewolf, and having this current conversation with yet another vampire. Really Elena? Dangerous?"

The girl shrugged. "But I know and trust all of you. I know none of you would try to kill me." She watched as one of Damon's eyebrows headed upwards and he gave a tiny grin. "Well, I'm sure you wouldn't plot to kill me."

"I have."

A chill ran down her spine before she asked. "Well… what do you plan to do?"

"About killing you?"

"No! God, you're an ass. I meant about Katherine."

Stefan entered the room at this moment and looked at the two. "What about Katherine?"

Damon looked to Elena. "Do you want to tell him? I really hate repeating myself."

As quickly as she could Elena filled Stefan in, on what Damon had just told her, before she asked, "So, what are we going to do?"

Looking to his girlfriend Stefan told her. "You are going to do nothing but sit here and look pretty, and let me and Damon worry about Katherine."

"Yea, because last time the two of you worried about Katherine, you got killed." She sighed. "I don't know if I can let that happen again."

Damon leaned back in his chair. "Well I was going to head over to Bonnie's and tell her that she should probably brush up on some spells and learn some healing mumbo jumbo."

"What part of 'she's mad at you', don't you understand?" Elena asked.

"She'll forgive. I mean… how can she not with a face like this?"

Stefan laughed. "Probably because of a cocky attitude like that."

Looking around the room, as though he would find the answer to his next question there, Damon asked, "Where's that horrid succubus? I'm sure she can help me talk some sense into the overly emotional witch of mine."

"'He and She', as you've so lovingly named them, are in California. He'll be back, the day before Christmas Eve, and she comes back a day or two before school starts again," Elena answered.

"Why are they out there?"

With a shrug Stefan answered, "Maybe some people actually enjoy the holidays and spending them with family."

Damon shook his head. "But why did he go with her?"

Elena rolled her eyes, before she stood to clean her bowl. "Obviously so he can meet her mother."

"That's dumb." He thought for a few seconds. "So, they're like… pretty serious, huh?"

"Bonding for life tends to do that to people," was the reply he heard from near the sink.

Damon stood. "Great. Now Bonnie's going to start getting ideas."

Stefan chuckled. "Right now, I'm sure marrying you is the last thing on Bonnie's mind."

* * *

As soon as Bonnie stepped out of the shower, she checked her cell phone. Still nothing. She took her time getting dressed and doing her hair and makeup before leaving the bathroom. She headed to her bedroom, but upon reaching Lily's room, went inside, crossed the room to the bed and plopped down.

Before they had gotten into their spat, Lily had promised to call Bonnie as soon as her flight had landed. Glancing at the clock, Bonnie realized that that had been over ten hours ago, and she still hadn't heard from the girl. She had called and texted her numerous of times and still, nothing.

When her phone rang, she didn't even hesitate to check the caller ID.

"Hello."

"Well, aren't you eager to hear from me?" she heard Damon, on the other end, knowing that a smirk was gliding across his face.

Bonnie let out a breath. "I'm expecting a phone call."

He laughed. "You already replaced me?"

"Maybe."

"But seriously, who are you waiting to hear from?"

"Not you," she replied, before ending the phone call.

Two minutes later her phone rang again, and this time she did check the caller ID, before answering. Seeing that it was Tyler, she grinned before answering.

"Hey Bon. Sorry we didn't call earlier, but there was a bad storm in the Midwest and we had to make an emergency landing. We literally just walked in the door."

Relieved she asked, "Lily still mad?"

"Of course. You know how stubborn that kid can get."

Bonnie heard Lily in the background. "I'm really not that stubborn."

"Yeah you are. Shut up, I'm on the phone."

"Whatever, she was being unreasonably mean to me, because her boyfriend was being a jerk."

"And when you're mad at me, you don't take your anger out on everyone else, including me?"

Bonnie faked a coughed to get Tyler's attention again. "So… how did the meeting go with her mom?"

Tyler let out a tiny moan. "Quite pleasant, until Lily decided to be herself, and wanted to discuss the whole birth control thing, on the drive home. So, now her mother is insisting that we stay in separate rooms."

"Which isn't going to happen." Lily protested.

"Shut up, I'm on the phone." He told the succubus, before telling the witch, "Anyways, it should make for a very entertaining week."

While he was talking, and the two had been arguing, something under Lily's dresser had caught her eye. She'd walked across the room, and got down on her knees before retrieving a pair of blue socks, covered in white stars.

"Lil forgot her lucky socks."

"I'm definitely not telling her that."

Downstairs she heard the doorbell ring, and as she climbed to her feet and made her way down, she told Tyler. "Well, I'ma let you go, so you guys can get settled. Have fun and be safe."

"Thanks, you too. See you in a week."

"Can't wait. Bye."

"Check ya later."

Bonnie hung up the phone before she peeked out the side window, to see Damon standing on her front porch. Turning from the window, she leaned with her back against the door.

"I know you're in there, and I only rang the doorbell, because I knew you'd be even more upset if I kicked it down. But, if you don't answer it, I won't hesitate to do so, and I'm sure that's going to raise a lot of questions from your dad."

"That's really helping your cause," she mumbled.

He laughed. "Yeah, I heard that." He was quite for almost a full minute, before he let out a deep breath and told her, "At least let me in, so I can explain myself." When she still didn't answer, he added, "I love you."

And Bonnie wanted to slam her face into the door, for how easily those three words broke her, before she opened the door for him.

He stood on the other side, wearing his new leather jacket and extending the one he had given her, in his hand. She glared at him, before he pouted and batted those baby blues, making her snatch the jacket from him, before she threw it over the back of the couch, and plopped down onto the cushions.

Damon strutted into the room, closing the door behind him, with the heel of his Italian leather boots, before he joined her on the couch. One arm instantly slinked around her shoulder and he told her everything he had told his brother and Elena earlier.

When he had finished his story, Bonnie asked, "So what are we going to do?"

"Right now I'm going to make fuck to you, on this couch. Then later, we'll start practicing more spells and possibly some potions."

"But shouldn't we go looking for her?"

Damon shook his head, before he gave her a disgusted look. "Absolutely not." When he saw the look that she gave him, he rolled his eyes. "It would be stupid to go out searching for her. The best thing to do, right now, is for us to prepare, and I'd prefer for us to be on familiar territory. Can you imagine, us going off to some state we've never been to, and getting absolutely sabotaged."

Bonnie nodded, realizing that he actually made sense. "So what should we work on now?"

One eyebrow shot up to his hairline before he told her. "Me on you."

He grinned before he captured her lips, in a long overdue welcome home kiss. He turned her, so that she was lying on the couch and his body covered hers.

As she loosened his belt, she confessed. "We need to find another term, other than making fuck."

He laughed, as he pulled her pants down. "How about the** destruction of innocence**?"

"I kinda like that," she admitted before she bit her lip, and undid his belt and jeans.

She slid his jeans and boxer briefs down his hips, and watched as his erection sprang into the picture. He sat up, and when she gave him a strange look, he grabbed her hand and made her stand to his feet. When she stood in front of him, he placed his hands on her hips before sliding her panties down her body. She placed a hand on his shoulder, to steady herself as she stepped out of them.

His hands wrapped around her thighs and he spread her legs, before pulling her onto his lap. She straddled him and he placed a hand on the small of her back, the other on her hip, before he assisted her, in mounting him.

Even though the two had been together for almost two months now, he still couldn't get over the feeling that consumed him every time he entered her body. So warm, wet and tight. It caused a warm and tight feeling in his chest. Every time, it made him wish that he weren't immortal. Made him wish that he was an average, mortal, twenty two year old, who could eventually marry this girl, buy a house together, and have as many babies as her body could handle. The first time, they'd made love, was the first time this feeling had washed over him. And it happened every single time after. Yet he knew there was nothing that he could do about the inevitable destructive path, this relationship was headed for.

He always got the feeling, that he should end things as soon as possible, before she would be completely broken. Yet selfishly he held on to her, believing that despite all the horrible things he had done in the past, she was the person that could possibly redeem his soul. That if he kept her safe and happy, then maybe, somehow, some way, someone would free him from the hell, that was immortality, and let him live out the rest of his life with her. Sometimes he wished to **forsake all the things that **were **lead**inghim **to **his **demise**, just to have his life back.

Yet the whole thing was a catch-22. If he hadn't been turned, he never would have lived this long. He never would have met her.

Bonnie looked at Damon's face, and grabbed his chin, turning his face so that they were looking eye to eye. "What's wrong? Where are you?"

"I just want **to leave this world behind**, and spend the rest of forever with you," he confessed, and she saw the shimmer in his eyes, could tell that he was on the brink of tears and it scared her. "I want to **abandon what holds us captive to suffering**…"

She stopped moving on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Your immortality?"

He nodded, allowing a tear to escape. "I hate who I am, what I've become, and the fact that I can't be the man that you need."

Bonnie kissed his lips, before staring directly into his eyes. "But you're the man I want, and I love who you are."


	4. When Darkness Falls

**Author's ****Note**: _To those of you who have reviewed, Thank you very much. To those who haven't... redeem yourselves. But I'll still thank you for reading._

_

* * *

_

Alough she had made a promise to no one, Katherine Pierce still felt slightly obligated to check on the Gilbert and Bennett family. The Gilberts were descendants of hers, so it was natural to check on that horrid girl Elena. The girl that looked exactly like her, but lacked completely in personality. She'd watched her grow up, with her brother Jeremy, and she had actually witnessed the accident that had taken the girl's parents' lives.

She'd also seen Stefan for the first time in decades, when he had rescued the girl. She also saw the instant his eyes recognized her face, and then she'd watched him stalk her look-a-like.

It had pissed her off.

It pissed her off even more that he had actually fallen in love with this knock off version of her. As if this teenage girl could make him feel the way that he had felt about her. She'd fumed, and seriously debated snapping the girl's pretty little neck. Then, out of nowhere, Damon had come rolling into town, ready to raise a ruckus. She'd watched the boys argue about the overrated mortal, until Damon had spotted the lackluster witch.

She honestly couldn't deny that Bonnie was beautiful. She herself had considered snatching up the girl a few times in the past few years, but had never followed through, because what was the point of having a Bennett, if she didn't know magic? She'd left town, hoping that Damon would do what he does best, and destroy everything in his path. However, when she'd returned a few months later, she'd found the witch doing all types of magic, and madly in love with the blue eyed devil himself. What surprised her more was the fact that Damon Salvatore was in love with her back; he had actually fallen in love again. And it burned her inside that that person wasn't her… again.

However, she was pleased to see the other Bennett girl with her.

She'd checked in on this girl too, not as often as Bonnie, about once a year assuming that, without her grandmother around, she most likely wouldn't come into her powers. When the stupid group was trying to figure out what was wrong with the girl, she'd immediately known she was a succubus. Which alone, was quite sexy. She saw her, Bonnie, Damon and the girl's werewolf boyfriend battle the warlock in the woods and was amazed by the power the girl possessed. She'd also seen the way the girl would get easily upset, hold grudges, and instigate fights, and knew that eventually she would be dabbling in dark magic. And this had caused Katherine to deem her 'the fun Bennett'.

Now Katherine Pierce was on the Bennett porch watching her former lover, and her former best friend's great, so many times over, granddaughter, fucking on the couch. She rolled her eyes and ignored the lustful grunts and moans, until she heard them stop. She listened in as Damon spoke from his heart to _Glinda the Good Witch_, and had to fight the urge to vomit.

Damon and Stefan Salvatore did not deserve to be _this_ happy with these substitute girls, and she was going to put a stop to it.

* * *

When Damon slid behind the wheel of his car, he took a deep breath, before his hands gripped the steering wheel. His eyes slid over to look in the rear view mirror.

"What do you want?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Katherine grinned as she leaned forward and rested her chin on Damon's shoulder. "I want your witch."

He chuckled. "Not going to happen. I'm not going to let you touch her."

"I'm sure you're not going to _let_ me, but it's not like I'm going to ask your permission."

He quickly turned in his seat before he grabbed her throat. "If you touch—"

"One hair on her pretty little head, you're going to rip my heart out, right?" She scoffed as she pulled out of what should have, and to anyone else would have been, a death grip. "That's not going to happen."

"What makes you so sure?"

She leaned back in the seat, and crossed her right leg over the left. "Because Elena Gilbert," she pointed to her chest. "That's me, is just going to pay her best friend a visit, get invited in, and just take her."

"Try it and I'll kill you."

Katherine smiled. "Would you really? Because if you really cared about that pretty little girl, you would have killed me by now, for even threatening her life. Yet you haven't." She bit her bottom lip before leaning back towards him. "Is it because you still love me Mr. Salvatore?"

"Not at all."

"Isn't that why you came back to town, _to rescue little ol' me_?" she asked in a mocking tone.

He smirked. "Doesn't matter why I came back. All that matters is that she's the reason I'm still here. I'm not the same person I was before. I'm better because of her. You've done nothing but bring out the worst in me."

"I may have brought it out, but it was there to begin with, and it always will be."

"Well, I really don't want anything to do with you. Well… besides ending your life."

She laughed, ignoring the threat. "So, are you on that dreaded _Cullen diet_? Are your eyes all golden from horrible, infested animal blood?"

"Unfortunately. But, I don't mind. It's not that hard to get used to." He took a deep breath. "I love Bonnie. I'll do anything to keep her happy, even if it means not killing another innocent person ever again."

"**Is it as simple as you claim it to be**?"

"For someone you love, anything is easy." They were quiet for a minute before he asked, "Anyway, if you want to take my witch, then you've got another thing coming."

"I'm going to get my Bennett witch. I lost one, and honestly, life is boring without a magical companion." Then she smiled. "I have a proposition for you."

He shook his head. "Not interested."

She nodded as she rolled her eyes. "I was just going to suggest a way for you to get what you want, a little sooner."

"And how would you know what I want?"

She smiled. "You want your witch to be immortal." She nodded when she saw his body stiffen. "But you don't want to be the one to do it. I can make it happen. Think about it. I kidnap her, and then I can either turn her, or… what I really want to do, get her into all that dark magic business. Once she does that, we can easily find a spell to extend her life _tremendously_, and you can have her back."

Damon frowned. "Right, because you would really give her back—"

"I would. Especially considering I want you both."

Before he could catch himself, and what he was saying, and by extension implying that he himself wanted it, he said, "Bonnie would never go for that."

"Trust me, I can be quite the charmer. I mean… you should know." Again she leaned forward. "Can you imagine, having me and your witch, for the rest of eternity. Imagine all the hot and fun times the three of us could have together. We could, honestly, rule the world, if we wanted to. And you can And you'd be able to live without the guilt of having ruined her mortal life, by pulling her into her everlasting mortal life." This last sentence was dripping with sarcasm. "And you know, with her being a witch, there are ways of going about that whole…reproducing thing." She shuddered. "But…" she sighed, "the three of us, with vampire/witch hybrid children. They'd be the strongest beings on Earth, and they'd be fathered by Damon Salvatore. We'd be able to do whatever we wanted. I would have you both, you wouldn't have to choose between the two of us, and Bonnie could have you for the rest of her life, and she'd get to be a mother." After speaking what was on her mind, she leaned back.

Damon didn't say anything, as his mind actually began to imagine the possibilities.

He watched as Katherine slid out of the car, and headed down the street.

* * *

Bonnie was sitting around her house doing absolutely nothing when her doorbell rang. Damon had just walked out of said door less than fifteen minutes ago so she couldn't imagine who could be there now. She pulled herself to her feet and crossed to the door. Standing on her toes she peered out the peephole, to see Elena standing on the porch with a grin, as she hugged her body against the cold.

Quickly Bonnie opened the door. "Hey you, come on in."

The girl smiled as she crossed the threshold. "So… just saw Damon leave. I'm assuming you two have made up."

"Correct." She motioned for the girl to follow her upstairs to her bedroom. "He got really emotional earlier. It was super weird."

"But I'm sure it melted your heart."

Bonnie squealed as she entered her room. "It did. I just… can't get enough of him." She watched her friend roll her eyes. "I'm sorry, I know he's a dick, but… I can't begin to describe how he makes me feel inside."

Elena plopped down onto the bed. "Well I'm really happy for you, you deserve to be happy." She let out a deep breath. "Me and Stefan were talking earlier."

"About…"

"About what we're going to do about our future together. It's just so overwhelming, to know that I want to spend the rest of my life with him and him with me, yet we have this whole immortality thing between us."

"So… did you guys come to a conclusion?"

The brunette nodded her head. "I think so. I mean, I really want to be with him, but I don't know if I can leave behind… my life. I mean, I don't know if I can stand to watch you grow old, while I stay young for the rest of eternity."

Bonnie nodded as she sat next to her friend. "And Jeremy."

Elena shook her head. "Anna's going to turn him, after he finishes school."

The witch's brows furrowed. "Wow! So I'm going to be the only one, that's not going to do this."

"Have you thought about it at all?"

She nodded. "Of course, but it's just been hard for me to come to a solid conclusion on the whole ordeal. I mean, I've looked into spells, but they all involve very dark magic."

"Which isn't your thing?"

"No it's not." She looked to her friend before she asked, "Are you sure you want to do this though?"

Elena nodded. "**I stand firm in my solidarity**, along with Jeremy. It just seems like the only solution to it all."

Bonnie's phone rang and she looked at the caller ID to see that it was Damon. She told Elena, who told her that she would talk to her later, and see herself out. Bonnie waited until Elena was out of the room before she answered her phone.

"Miss me already?" she teased.

"Katherine's in town."

Goosebumps and a chill covered Bonnie's body from head to toe. "Are you sure?"

"I just talked to her outside of your house. She was waiting in my car when I came out," he confessed. "I watched and made sure she left the area, before I headed home. So, if you see Elena, just ask her something that only she would know."

Bonnie swallowed what felt like a brick in her throat. "Elena just left."

"I'll be right over. Call her and make sure it was Elena."

She quickly hung up her phone, before hitting the speed dial and calling her best friend, who answered her phone in a chipper voice.

"Hey, what was that really embarrassing thing that happened to Tyler in second grade?" Bonnie asked.

Elena laughed. "You mean when he shat his pants?"

"Where are you at?"

Elena was quiet for a few seconds. "I've been at Stefan's since last night." She paused. "Why, what's wrong?"

Bonnie fell back onto her bed. "I just invited Katherine into my house."


	5. Rose of Sharon

**Author's ****Note**: _Enjoy it. Thanks to all, especially my forever awesome beta._

* * *

Bonnie stood in the graveyard, looking down at the headstone. She knelt in the snow before placing the single rose on the grave. She'd been leafing through her Grams' grimoire when she had found the spell, _Rose of Sharon_. The concept had been romantic, a warlock, who'd lost his wife, had produced a spell that rendered every rose under the enchantment to never wilt and die, so that the last rose (her favorite flower) he had ever given her, would be with her forever. So Bonnie had used this enchantment on a white rose…her Grams' favorite.

"Hey Grams," she began. "I know it's been a while since I've visited with you." She took a deep breath. "Things have gotten considerably better around here… well considering the whole mess with Lily being a succubus and all. But, her coming here has really helped me. I spent so much time, after your death **hoping and praying that I'd find a way to turn back time**, thinking maybe I could have saved you from… doing that spell. But Lily helped me realize that what happened wasn't my fault. She told me that you would have said the exact same thing.

"It's hard for me to believe that you're really gone. Damon… of all people has been helping me with the loss too. He told me that in actuality **you never left me**, so now, I like to think that in the morning, when I'm still safe in bed, **the rising sun will always speak your name**. I know, you know, I'll never forget you, and that **your memory is never passing**." She paused to wipe the tears that were zig zagging down her cheeks. "I just wanted to stop by to wish you a Merry Christmas, I know it's not until tomorrow, but I thought I'd come today. I'll be back sometime really soon, and I promise I'll bring Lily with me. I just wanted to let you know that **my love for you is everlasting**."

She ran her fingers over the soft petals of the rose before climbing to her feet. Damon, who had been standing a few yards away from her, walked over to her and grabbed her hand. They headed back to her car together and he drove them back to his house.

Once there, he helped her pull off her layers.

"I can't believe you're okay with Stefan throwing a Christmas Eve party here, for us mortal high school kids," she told him as she stepped out of her boots.

He shrugged. "I kinda enjoyed myself at that party Lily threw, so I figured it would probably be quite entertaining."

Bonnie nodded. "Well I'ma head upstairs and get ready. I don't know how much you care for the environment, but I figured we could save some water by sharing a shower."

The blue eyed demon wrapped his arms around her waist. "Well, when you put it like that, it makes me care about the environment tremendously."

At this moment Stefan walked into the room. "Hey Bonnie." He looked to his brother. "Can I talk to you for a minute in the parlor?"

Damon rolled his eyes. "For some reason, I have a feeling that I don't really have much of a choice." He kissed the top of Bonnie's head. "I'll see you in about… ten minutes."

"I'll be waiting," she said before biting her bottom lip and heading up the stairs.

The brothers made their way through the house before entering the parlor. Damon grabbed a tumbler and poured some whiskey into the glass before taking a sip.

He looked up to the ceiling, where his room was, before looking back to his brother. "Make it fast."

Stefan nodded. "Okay. So for some strange reason, I have a feeling that there's more to this Katherine meeting than what you told Bonnie."

Damon frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You're trying to tell me, that after having a talk with Katherine, about her wanting to kidnap Bonnie, and turn her, you decided to come all the way home _before_ warning your girlfriend."

He shrugged. "I saw her go down the street, and I figured she wouldn't make a move, knowing I was right there to warn Bonnie."

Stefan crossed his arms over his chest. "Bullshit."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"What did Katherine have to offer you?"

Damon took another sip of his drink, before he set his glass down and sat in a chair. "I knew she wasn't going to hurt Bonnie." When he saw the look of shock on his brother's face, he quickly added. "I know I should have gone right back inside and told Bonnie what had happened. But a part of me… was kind of thinking that maybe it wouldn't be so bad to have Katherine turn her."

"You're a bastard, you know?" Stefan chastised. "I really thought you loved Bonnie and cared about her, and you were actually thinking about letting Katherine go through with her plan."

"Have you thought about changing Elena?"

Stefan nodded. "Of course."

"And why haven't you yet?"

He shook his head. "I don't want to be the one to take her life."

Damon smiled. "So you can understand why I personally don't want to change Bonnie, and right now, Bonnie doesn't want to change. But I thought, if Katherine did it, I'd have Bonnie forever, and she wouldn't hate me for doing that to her." He took a deep breath. "I know, that's extremely selfish of me… but, well… we all know I'm a very selfish person."

"And you should also know that Katherine always has a trick up her sleeve."

"But I knew Katherine would try to talk to her first, because she would rather want Bonnie to feel that it was her decision." Damon stood. "Look, I know it was a horrible lack of judgment on my part, and I've realized that I fucked up. So, let's just forget about all this, and never mention it to Bonnie…"

The younger of the two frowned. "I won't." When he saw Damon smile, he added, "Not because you asked, but because I know how much Bonnie loves you, and I know that this, would make her leave you… for good. So just try not to fuck up again."

Damon nodded. "I won't."

* * *

Bonnie was in the parlor, leaning against the couch, with a drink in hand, talking to Elena and Caroline, when Tyler entered the room, looking horribly nervous. She watched him search the room with his eyes, and when he spotted Stefan, he smiled before he headed towards the younger Salvatore.

"I've never seen Tyler look so nervous walking into a party before." Caroline noted.

Elena grinned. "Well, I think it's his first party without drugs, alcohol or Lily, so it's probably kinda hard for him." She then looked to Bonnie. "Still haven't heard from her?"

Bonnie frowned as she shook her head. "No. I think she's pretty content on not talking to me, at least until she gets back."

Caroline rolled her eyes. "Why is that girl always so stubborn?"

Elena laughed. "Because she's a Bennett."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bonnie asked with mock anger.

"Don't even pull that." Caroline demanded. "I remember a certain someone not talking to Elena for a week because she broke the head off their Barbie when we were seven."

Bonnie's mouth dropped open. "Well… that was my favorite Barbie."

The three laughed.

Elena's eyes searched the room until they landed on Jeremy and Anna, who were sitting close together on a loveseat, near the fireplace. She saw the glass in Jeremy's hand, half full of a brown liquid that she knew the boy had no business consuming. But considering it was a party, she wasn't going to say anything to him about it, especially in front of his _much_ older girlfriend.

"I'll be right back." She told her friends, before she crossed the room. When she got to her brother she smiled down at him and the adorable Asian girl that he was madly in love with. "Hey kids. Having fun?"

Jeremy made a feeble attempt to hide the drink behind his back as he laughed. "Oh… hi Elena. No, I'm not drinking."

She laughed. "I know you are, and I'm not going to give you any crap about it, because I am also underage." She looked to Anna. "You are going to make sure he gets home okay, right?"

Anna nodded as she smiled at the "older" girl. "Yup. You don't have to worry about him. He'll be fine."

"And once I finish high school, you won't have to worry about taking care of me." He told his girlfriend. "I'll be able to look after you."

She rolled her eyes. "Okay macho man. And I'll still be stronger than you, considering my age and all."

"Blah blah blah," he mumbled. "It'll just be nice to know that my girlfriend won't be able to kick my ass so easily."

"You were the one who wanted to arm wrestle her, if I do recall," Elena reminded him.

He shook his head. "That doesn't even matter."

Anna laughed before she told Elena, "I'll make sure he doesn't drink anymore, I swear."

"Please do," she said with a grin. "I don't want Jenna seeing him sloppy drunk like this, or he and I will both be in trouble."

"No problem."

Elena gave the two a little wave before she made her way to her boyfriend and Tyler.

She wrapped an arm around her boyfriend's waist before she leaned over and kissed his cheek. "How's it going boys?"

Tyler scoffed. "Horrible."

Stefan grinned. "He's only saying that because his girlfriend isn't here."

The wolf grinned. "And I'm sure you'd feel the same way if Elena was across the country for a week."

Across the room Bonnie was being abandoned by Caroline, who had just decided to join Matt in a corner. She was about to search for Damon when the doorbell rang. She decided since she was the closest to the foyer, she should answer it, and upon opening the doorbell saw no one.

She took a small step onto the porch and looked from one side to the other, and was about to go back into the house, when she felt herself being grabbed in a pair of strong arms.

Damon was in the library, trying to fight the migraine that those dumb kids downstairs were causing, when he heard the doorbell ring.

He stood and made his down the stairs, and he saw Bonnie take a step onto the porch. He was about to order her back into the house, when he saw, in a flash, Katherine grab her. He only paused long enough to quickly shout his brother's name, before he sped off behind the two women.

It wasn't hard for him to find the girls, considering he knew both of their scents better than anyone else's. He found them in a clearing, of what usually was a grassy meadow, but was now covered in pure, untouched, white snow, that glistened under the moon light. Before he could reach them, he saw Katherine smile to him, before she immediately turned her mouth to Bonnie's throat, and ripped out a large portion of the girl's neck.

Damon heard the gurgle of Bonnie's blood filled gasp, before the witch fell to the ground, blood spilling down her neck, onto her pale blue dress, and the snow.

He lunged at Katherine, knocking her to the ground, and pressed his forearm across her throat.

Yet the older vampire only smiled up at him. "You do still have enough time to save her."

Both of their heads turned to look at Bonnie. The girl had rolled over to face the two, her hand to her throat, as she made a feeble attempt to hold in some of the blood that was spilling from the wound. Her mouth was moving slowly, and Damon barely picked up, with his hearing, her calling his name, begging for help.

"Would you rather use these last few seconds of her life, to avenge her soon to be death, or to save her life?"

Damon was up, across the field and soon he had her in his arms. He bit into his wrist before holding it to her mouth. She turned her head away slightly, before he all but shoved his wrist into her mouth and forced her to drink from him.

Soon her wound was closed, and Stefan was standing only a few yards away from them. Damon cradled the blood drenched, drowsy witch into his arms, before he stood and made his way to his brother.

"Take her back to the house; I'm going to go look for Katherine."

Stefan shook his head. "I'll go look for Katherine. You need to be with her." And with that, he left the two in the field alone.

Damon wrapped his arms around Bonnie more securely, before he headed home.


	6. Inhale: Part 1

It had been almost a week since Bonnie's attack and no one had been able to find Katherine. Damon had told her that he didn't want her to go to the Lockwoods' New Year's Eve party tomorrow, but Bonnie had told him that she would not have Katherine control her life. She told her worried boyfriend that he would just have to make sure that he never let her out of his sight.

On Christmas morning she had tried to call Lily but the girl, as usual, hadn't answered her phone. So Bonnie left her a voice message, hoping that after hearing of her attack, Lily would call her back. She hadn't. Bonnie had been furious and had finally decided that she was done kissing Lily's ass, and didn't care if she didn't talk to the girl until she returned home. Yet two days later, she'd run into Tyler and Matt while she and Elena had been at the Grill.

"Hey Bonnie," Tyler had called out as he quickly made his way to her and Elena's table, Matt following behind.

"Hey Ty, what's up?"

He slid into the booth, next to Elena, and Matt joined them. "Have you heard from Lily at all?"

Bonnie shook her head. "She's still not talking to me. Why? Haven't you talked to her?"

"I tried to call her Christmas night, and she didn't answer. And I called her mom and left a voice message and she hasn't called me back either. I'm really starting to get worried."

Elena frowned. "You didn't do anything to piss her off too, did you?"

Matt chimed in. "From what he's told me, she was extremely happy with him, the day he flew back."

Bonnie's eyes lit up. "What did you do?"

With his head down, and a sheepish smile on his face Tyler admitted, "I may have implied that I was going to propose to her, very soon."

"Oh my God! That's fantastic!" Elena shrieked as she jumped up in her seat a bit.

"It would be fantastic if I knew what was going on with her." He shook his head. "Which I don't understand, because I had just talked to her on Christmas Eve and she'd been her normal bubbly self."

The four had talked a while longer, until Bonnie and Elena's food had arrived, and the boys went to grab a booth of their own, with Tyler looking heartbroken.

Now, as she paced her room, trying to find the perfect shoes and accessories to go with her black dress for the party, her father knocked on her partially opened door. She looked to him, and grinned as she motioned him into the room.

"Hey dad," she greeted him with a grin. "You all packed for your trip."

He nodded, before he sat on her bed, and patted the spot next to him. Concern washed over her face, as she saw the sombre look on his, and noticed his hands fidgeting with the cordless phone. His hands only moved in this manner when something was terribly wrong. She'd only really seen this twice; the first time was when her mother died, and the second when she had lost her Grams. So now, she was on the verge of tears, before he had even spoken a single word to her.

"What's wrong?" she asked with a trembling lip.

He grabbed her hand with his free one, before he stroked her knuckles with his thumb. He looked into her eyes and told her, "Lily is sick."

Bonnie shook her head. "What do you mean by sick?"

"She's been in the hospital for the past three days." He saw the tears roll down his daughter's cheeks before he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back, like he had when she was a child.

Between hiccups the witch asked. "She's not going to…"

"No, she's not going to die, but she's going to head back into the hospital on New Year's Day. She's supposed to call you sometime tomorrow, because she wants to tell you, what's going on herself." Bonnie nodded. "If you want, I'll cancel my trip and stay here with you."

The teen shook her head. "I can't do that. You haven't had a vacation in the longest time. If she's going to be okay, then I'll be okay. I'll just call Elena and see if I can stay with her for a bit."

"You sure?" he asked before kissing her forehead.

She smiled. "Positive."

* * *

Damon had come over that evening, once her father was gone. Bonnie told him about the conversation she had had with her father.

"If you want, I can go out there and check up on her," he offered, as the two lay in bed, him stroking her hair.

Bonnie shook her head. "She's supposed to call tomorrow. I'm sure she'll explain everything."

"Something just feels really wrong about this." When Bonnie lifted her head from his chest to look into his eyes, he frowned. "I can't explain it, but I have a feeling I really should go out there."

She grabbed his hand, that wasn't playing in her hair, and laced her fingers with his. "If something were seriously wrong, we would know. I mean, its Lily… and my aunt is a witch too. She probably just caught a bug or something." Damon shrugged. "I wasn't expecting you to be so concerned about _that horrid succubus_."

He shrugged. "What can I say? The girl's kind of grown on me." He saw the look Bonnie was giving him before he added. "She's a smart ass jerk, like yours truly, and she humors me."

"Well, I'm glad, you like her now."

* * *

The next evening Bonnie and Elena were escorted to the Mayor's house by their boyfriends. Damon had promised to be on his best behaviour. He told her to be sure to not leave the party, unless with himself, Stefan or Tyler. Yet when they got to the house, he never let go of her arm, or waist, some part of him was constantly touching her. She believed it was more so to assure himself, than her.

She stood around and listened to him talk to Sheriff Forbes, with the latter trying to slyly talk about council matters around the teen, and Damon occasionally looking to Bonnie, while feeding lies to the Sheriff.

As the two talked about everything under the moon (absolutely boring her), she finally spotted Tyler, he was heading out of the ballroom. One hand possessed a tumbler of an amber hued liquid; the other was tucking a strand of black hair behind the ear of Meredith Sulez. Bonnie felt her face flush with anger as she watched him lean forward and whisper something into the girl's ear. And she all but ripped Damon's arm out of its socket, when she saw Tyler teasingly brush his lips against the giggling girl's.

Damon excused himself from his conversation before he pulled Bonnie off to the side and stared into her eyes. "What's your problem?"

"Tyler," she responded as she pointed at the boy across the room who was now shamelessly making out with Meredith.

Looking from Tyler, back to Bonnie, he asked, "Did him and Lily end things?"

"Not as far as I know."

With this, Bonnie dragged Damon across the room. She pushed Meredith out of Tyler's grasp, before she grabbed his hand and pulled him upstairs, with Damon following closely behind. Bonnie stopped once they were in Tyler's room and Damon stepped inside, before closing the door.

"What the fuck is that all about?" Bonnie demanded.

Tyler shook his head. "Meredith doesn't mean shit to me," he mumbled.

"But she's worth losing Lily over."

Tyler looked up at Bonnie before his mouth fell open. He quickly closed it before lowering his head. "You haven't talked to her yet, have you?"

"No…"

He shook his head. "She sent me a video message this afternoon."

He crossed the room and flipped open his laptop, where there was a paused image of Lily, in her bedroom, tears in her eyes.

"Sit down, watch it," he told her before walking past the two and out of the room.

Bonnie sat down at the desk and Damon stood behind her, hands on her shoulders.

She pressed play.

"Hey Ty," Lily started, tears already in her eyes. "I'm sorry I haven't been answering your calls but… I've been sick." She sniffled before covering her eyes with her hands, exposing her bandaged wrists. After she moved her hands she continued. "I just wanted to let you know that… I'm not coming back. I… I tried to kill myself on Christmas morning, and I had to go to the hospital. They make you stay for seventy two hours, after a suicide attempt, and now… Now my mom is checking me into a mental institution. We don't know how long I'll be there, but her and the doctors agreed that it's going to be a while."

Damon kneeled down next to Bonnie and wrapped his arms around the girl as she cried and they continued to watch the video.

"I'm so sorry Ty. I still love you so much, but… I can't hold you back. I don't want you to wait for me. And don't think that you can save me from this. You already saved me once by becoming my bond mate, and I can never pay you back for that, because it's the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me. And I'm sure you're disappointed in me and I am too, but… I guess there's something wrong with me, and this is for the best. So… I just wanted to say… I love you, and I'll never forget you. I'm sorry we couldn't make that life that we had planned, but I didn't plan for this." She held up her wrists. "I'm sorry. I love you."

The video stopped.

* * *

**Author's Note:**_ The next two chapters after this are going to be how Lily spent her fabulous Christmas break, leading up to this point._


	7. Inhale: Part 2

As soon as they stepped out of the airport Lily took a deep breath as she held her boyfriend's hand, and felt the warm breeze toss her hair behind her.

It felt good to be home in California. Especially after all the drama of Mystic Falls that fall. Tyler looked down at her, before he wrapped an arm around her neck and pulled her close. He kissed the top of her head, before he kissed behind her ear.

"Let's go find your mom," he whispered before kissing her eyelid, causing her to giggle.

"She always parks in the same spot." She began to walk and pulled Tyler's arm. "Let's go buddy."

Within ten minutes they found her mother, and upon spotting her daughter and the boy who held her hand tightly, Amy had climbed out of the car to greet them.

She wrapped her arms around her daughter before she kissed her forehead, and cheeks, whispering 'I love yous' and 'I miss yous' to the girl repeatedly. Lily laughed before she introduced her mother to her boyfriend and watched as her mom swarmed Tyler with just as many hugs and kisses. The three piled the kids' bags into the SUV.

"So, this is the famous Tyler Lockwood," Amy teased as she nudged her daughter.

Lily smirked. "Also known as, the reason I'm on birth control."

Amy didn't say anything before she climbed behind the wheel, although she did tell Tyler that she wanted him to sit in the front seat.

After a few minutes, she asked, "So Tyler, what do you do?"

"Besides me… he plays football," Lily answered from the back seat.

Gripping the steering wheel, like she wanted to grab her daughter's neck, Amy counted to ten. "How long have you been playing?"

Tyler, also ignoring Lily, responded, "I've been playing since I was about six. I actually have a scholarship to the University of Virginia, but that one back there wants me to go to school out here with her."

"You should," Lily said with a pout. "We can stay with my mom, and it'll be awesome."

Amy shook her head. "You do know that he's staying in the guest room."

"No, I don't know that."

"Well now you do."

Lily rolled her eyes. "But we're already having sex, and that's really the only reason a parent would make her child and her boyfriend sleep in separate rooms. So there's really no point in even doing that."

"Well, I like to believe that I have some control over you, so let's just pretend as though you're going to listen to me." Amy told her. "It makes me feels as if my job as a parent is done. Sneak him into your room all you want, just make sure I don't hear it."

* * *

When they arrived at the house, Tyler immediately called Bonnie, while Lily unpacked. When he was done with his conversation, he hung up the phone and helped Lily complete the unpacking, before the two climbed into her bed to take a nap. After a few hours Amy woke them, to join her for lunch, and after freshening up, they joined her on the patio for sandwiches and lemonade.

Lunch was going considerably well until Lily broke the silence by asking,

"Did you know I'm a succubus?"

It took Amy a minute to choke down her sandwich, and after gulping down half of her lemonade she answered. "No, I didn't know."

"Did you have any clue?" the girl asked nonchalantly as she picked at her chips.

Amy wiped her mouth before she looked at her daughter. "Well… I do remember some nights when…" she paused, before her eyes slid to Tyler, then back to her daughter. "Can we have this conversation later?"

Lily shook her head. "He knows what I am. He helped me through it, so he deserves to hear what you have to tell me."

She nodded her head. "Fine." She took a deep breath. "I was in high school when I started to have dreams about a boy in my math class. His name was Jeffrey Grant, and he was absolutely gorgeous. He visited me, every night for almost three months before I woke up in the hospital. I'd been in a coma for three days, and when I woke up, I found out that I was pregnant with you." She took another drink of her lemonade. "I told my mom everything, and she told me that she had had a feeling that Jeff was an incubus. I thought about terminating the pregnancy but… I knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I had, so I… I had you."

"But…" Lily stammered. "Did you have any clue that I would end up being a succubus?"

"Well, mom had mentioned it was a possibility, but she told me to watch you sleep, and watch for certain symptoms. So I did, and none of those things came up, so I figured we were in the clear." She looked her daughter in the eyes. "Honestly princess, if I had known that you would actually turn into one, I would have warned you." She looked to Tyler. "I'm assuming you're the reason she won't be turning completely."

He smiled at the woman he hoped would soon be his mother in law before he answered. "Yes ma'am. And I'm a werewolf."

Amy smiled. "So I'm assuming he was the only supernatural in that crazy town at the moment."

With a shake of her head, Lily answered. "Oh God, no! That town is riddled with vampires." She popped a chip into her mouth. "Bonnie's dating one."

The older woman placed her elbows on the table, before massaging her temples. "Please tell me, it's not one of the Salvatore's." Tyler nodded. "Hopefully it's Stefan, right?" This time Lily shook her head. "She's dating Damon Salvatore?" the woman shrieked.

Lily laughed. "I know, right?" At the worried look on her mother's face she added, "He's truly not, _that_ bad." When she saw the look of relief on her mother's face, she decided not to tell her about the attacks she had encountered, knowing the woman would be skeptical on letting her return.

"Well… I guess that's good." She rolled her eyes. "Though I'm sure your Grams is probably rolling in her grave right now."

"Understatement," Lily told her matter of factly. "I'm sure she's spinning."

* * *

The next day Lily took Tyler to her favorite beach.

They spent the early afternoon splashing around in the water like idiots. After a few hours Lily had talked Tyler into trying to surf 'Since I brought both of my surfboards', she'd told him. She'd helped him as much as she could. Yet after an hour, he'd told her that he was completely content with just watching her. So, she'd spent quite a bit of time in the water with her board, and as he watched her, looking so at peace with the water, he decided, that maybe he could compromise and attend school in California.

The afternoon they spent lying on beach towels on the sand.

He rolled over onto her as he played with the strings holding her bikini bottom together, her hands smacking him away. She gave him a look from underneath her sunglasses as she ran a hand through her damp curls. He took in the sun, glistening off her golden skin, and his stomach filled with an indescribable emotion, one that made him ask, "If I were to ask you to marry me, what would you say?"

Lily slid her sunglasses off, before she sat up and looked him in the eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Exactly what I said, if I were to ask you to marry me, what would you say?" he repeated.

She thought for a minute before she bit her lip, and responded. "I'd ask if I were pregnant."

He laughed, before he stopped and looked her in the eyes. "You're not are you?" He watched her shake her head. "Good. Well… not saying that I would be upset if…"

"I'd be upset. I mean, if I were at the moment." She grabbed his hands in hers. "I mean. I do want babies with you, just not… at this particular moment in time."

He nodded. "Agreed." He thought for a minute, looking at their hands entwined. "But, I mean… what would you say?"

"Duh, obviously I'd say yes."

"Not just because you'd turn into a full blooded demon, if you were to leave me and sleep with someone else."

"Well, I mean that is a big factor." When she saw his face fall, she quickly crawled into his lap, before the two fell over, with her on top of him. "Don't be such a goon. I love you, and I definitely want to marry you. Why do you ask?"

He smirked as he wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. "Just curious is all."

"Well curiosity did kill the cat."

"But, no one really knows what it did to the dog."

She giggled. "You know what I was thinking about on the flight over."

He leaned up and grabbed her lips in a lingering kiss. "I never know what you're thinking, you whacky woman."

"I was thinking," she began, "that you are like the Lupin to my Tonks." When she saw the confused look on his face, she explained. "You know, from Harry Potter?"

He shrugged. "You lost me."

She rolled her eyes. "Remus Lupin was a werewolf, who fell in love with a witch named Nymphadora Tonks."

"Did they get married and have babies?"

She grinned before she kissed him again. "They did get married and they had a little baby named Teddy."

"And they lived happily ever after?"

She laughed. "Not at all. They both died in this horrible war and left their little baby to seventeen year old Harry Potter."

He frowned as he leaned his head back and looked at the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. "That sucks."

Yet Lily crawled up his chest, before leaning her head down to look into his eyes. "I don't know. I thought it was kind of romantic, the two of them fighting together until the end."

His arms went around her shoulders before he pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. "I'd fight with you until the end." She kissed his chin. "Though I have a feeling… I'm going to be fighting _with_ you until the end."

The girl chuckled before she punched his shoulder. "I hate you so bad."

"And I love you so good."

* * *

When she dropped him off at the airport, he held her face in his hands as he kissed her lips repeatedly. Once his flight was called again he let go of her face and grabbed her hands in his.

"Call Bonnie," he demanded.

She rolled her eyes. "At a moment like this, you're going to tell me to call _her_."

"Seriously. Stop being a brat. Call her."

She frowned, and when she saw the deathly stare that he was shooting her way, she caved. "Fine, fine. I'll call her." She kissed him again. "Now go. Have a safe trip, a Happy Christmas and a fantastic New Year. And don't mess around with anyone that I wouldn't mess with."

"Shut up." He kissed her again. "I know you'll have me by the balls if I ever cheated on you."

She shrugged. "Not that I'm jealous or anything… I just, you know... love balls."

He placed another kiss on her lips. "Be good."

Lily waved him off. "That's for people like Bonnie." He again gave her the look. "Ugh, fine, ruin my life. Now go. Love you."

"Love you too." He told her before running off to catch his flight.

* * *

Christmas Eve she found herself sitting in the living room, in front of the Christmas tree, with her mother.

"Drew really is a great guy. I know you'll like him."

"As much as I've liked the past ones."

Amy crossed her arms. "Speaking of which, I don't want you to pull any of the shenanigans you've pulled with the last ones."

Lily laughed. "I'm a grown ass woman in love. I'm not going to mess up your… getting of ass?" She laughed harder at her mom's reaction.

The doorbell rang, and Amy stood before making her way to the door. "Please don't say things like that."

Placing her head in her hands, Lily prayed that her meeting with this particular douche bag would be over soon. She heard her mother and the new boy/manfriend approach from behind the couch.

"Drew, this is my lovely daughter Lilith Bennett. Lily, this is Andrew Spencer."

And at this moment, Lily turned to get a glimpse of who her mother had deemed the perfect man, before she sent him flying across the room and into the kitchen.


	8. Breathe Life

Amy immediately grabbed Lily's arms firmly and as she stared the girl in the eyes she asked, "Why would you do that? He doesn't know I'm a witch. That was completely unnecessary and I'm not putting up with this bullshit."

"He tried to kill me in Mystic Falls!" Lily shrieked as she tried to head to the kitchen to finish him off.

Her mother shook her. "I'm not putting up with this anymore. I'm done with you sabotaging my relationships." Amy let Lily go before she rushed into the kitchen and began to help Andrew up. As she helped him to his feet she began apologizing. "I'm so sorry."

"What happened?" Andrew asked as he looked across the room to Lily. "How did she do that?"

Amy wrapped her arms around his neck before she admitted, "I'm a witch." She waited for him to say something negative, but he didn't say anything. "I wanted to tell you before, but I didn't want to scare you away, and now, I guess… after that little show from my daughter, I have no choice but to tell you."

Lily stormed into the kitchen. "Don't apologize to him. He tried to kidnap me and Bonnie, and his friend tried to rape me."

Andrew looked at the girl with nothing but shock in his eyes. "I've never seen you before, except the pictures your mother has shown me."

"That's a lie," Lily said as she pointed to the man, and stared at her mother with pleading eyes.

Amelia turned to her daughter. "Stop! I'm tired of you doing this! Before, you told me that Gerard was watching you in the shower, and that Nathan called you a whore, only for you to later admit that those were lies."

"They were lies," Lily told her, with tears streaming down her face. "But I'm not lying now."

"Upstairs!" Amy demanded.

The girl shook her head. "I'm not leaving you down here with him." She pointed to Andrew. "He is a warlock. He's super powerful and I swear he kidnapped me."

"Then why is this the first I'm hearing of it?"

"Because I didn't want you to tell me that I couldn't go back to Mystic Falls."

Lily watched Andrew, as he stood behind her mother. She saw the sneer that crossed his face, and it became too much for her to handle. Quickly she grabbed a knife from the butcher's block and lunged at him.

Before she could reach him, she felt her back slam against the refrigerator, and the knife slide out of her hand.

She looked to her mother, with tears in her pleading eyes, as she cried, "I'm not lying!"

"You've made it really hard to believe you Lil," Amy told her, tears in her eyes as well. "Every time I find myself happy with a man, you ruin it… and I'm so tired of not being happy because you're so selfish." She ignored her daughter's tears. "Can you please… just, go to your room?"

Lily shook her head. "I'm not going to stay in this house, if he's going to be here."

Amelia smiled as she nodded. "You are. I have ways of making sure you can't leave this house, and I'd really prefer not to use them." She saw the look her daughter shot her boyfriend. "Do you really believe that I will allow someone to harm you, while you're in my presence?" Lily shook her head. "Go upstairs. I'll be up in a minute to talk to you."

Without another word Lily left the kitchen.

Amy turned to Andrew, and saw a trickle of blood, making its way down a chocolate brown cheek. She quickly grabbed a towel and wet it under the faucet before she wiped his face clean. She looked into his hazel eyes before she admitted, "I'll understand if you never want to talk to me." She felt the tears roll down her cheeks. "I mean to find out that I'm a witch, after my daughter attacks you…on Christmas Eve, of all days, is a bit much."

Yet he grabbed her chin and kissed her lips. "It's going to take much more than a jealous teenage witch to scare me away. I love you."

Amy smiled, before she kissed him back. "I love you too."

"So, we'll find a way to work through this thing with your daughter."

Amy let him go before she sat down at the table. "I hate that she does this. Since she was eleven, she's come up with all these lies to make me break up with any guy I've ever been interested in."

He sat across from her, and grabbed her hands in his. "She's just been used to having her mommy all to herself, and she doesn't want to share."

"But it's got to stop."

"It does. You need to be happy too. You can't live solely for your daughter." Andrew told her. "She's got a boyfriend, who she's quite serious with. When's it going to be your turn Amy?"

She shook her head. "But I'm a mother first."

"No you're Amelia Bennett first. You can't make her happy all the time, if you're not happy yourself."

Amy nodded. "I'll sit down and talk with her the day after tomorrow."

* * *

Christmas morning Lily spent in her bedroom, fuming. She'd thrown her phone against the wall, as soon as she'd entered her room, the day before. She'd thrown things around, and once, when she had tried to sneak out of her window, she found the window impossible to budge, and knew it was her mother's doing. She'd screamed through the door that morning, hoping that maybe, just maybe, she could ruin the couple's first Christmas together, and found herself thoroughly ignored.

Once her mother had came up to the room and told her that she could join them if she would act civilized and she'd slammed the door in her face, and told her that she would much rather rot in her bedroom, than watch her mother play house with a man who'd tried to kill her.

Later in the morning, her mother knocked on the door and Lily opened it, giving her a venomous glare.

"What?"

Amy shook her head. "You're too old for these fucking tantrums Lily, and I'm really not going to put up with it anymore."

"You don't have too. Let me go home."

"This is your home."

"Not if that fuckbag is going to be a part of your life."

Not being able to hold back any longer, Amy told her. "Well that '_fuckbag_' proposed to me this morning. So he's going to be your step dad."

"Fuck That Noise!" Lily shouted. "If you marry him, I'll fucking kill myself."

"Don't talk like that."

"Don't marry him."

Again Amelia shook her head. "I'm going to marry him."

Lily wiped the tears from her eyes. "Then just leave me alone."

"Why do you make my life so hard for me?"

"I don't want to make your life hard," Lily admitted. "I worry about you, and I only want the best for you."

Amy smiled. "Andrew is the best."

Turning her back to her mother, Lily whispered, "Just go… please."

* * *

That afternoon, as Lily showered she heard a knock on the bathroom door. She quickly stepped out of the shower before wrapping a towel around herself.

"Give me like one minute mom." After she made sure the towel was secure, she opened the door and upon seeing Andrew, she quickly tried to close it again. But he pushed the door, making it bounce against the wall, before he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

Lily screamed as loud as she could, until her throat felt as though it was going to bleed. She reached into the tub to grab her shaving razor, anything to protect her. Yet he grabbed her hair and pulled her back, making her fall onto the floor. He extended his free hand to summon the razorblade to himself.

He covered Lily's mouth, and as they watched the razor disassemble itself, he whispered, "Try to keep it down. Your mother is taking a nap." He looked into her eyes. "I genuinely love her and I'm not about to let you ruin my second chance at happiness." He smiled. "I want to watch while you **fight for** your **last breath**, **dying the slowest death**. I want you out of the picture, but I know your death will destroy your mother, so this will have to be good enough."

She fought against him, until he grabbed her head, and banged it back, against the glass shower door, so hard that it caused the door to shatter.

Lightheaded, she could barely keep herself standing straight, let alone pull out of his tight grasp, and she watched in terror as the razor made its way to her left wrist before slicing down her arm, and she let out an ear piercing scream as it made its way to the other, and made a matching mark.

Andrew let her go and watched as she fell to the ground in tears, trying to use the towel that was wrapped around her body to stop the bleeding. As she watched, Andrew stepped into the tub and watched her.

Amelia rushed into the room, to find her daughter, wrapped in a towel with blood streaming nonstop from her wrists. She fell to her knees and held the girl as she grabbed her cell phone and called for an ambulance.

"Why would you do this to yourself?" Amy asked.

Lily turned to Andrew, who stood in the tub with a Cheshire smile, and pointed. "He did this to me."

"Who are you talking about?" Amy asked as she looked to where her daughter pointed. "No one is there."

"Andrew is right there."

Amy stroked her daughter's hair before she kissed her forehead. "There's no one there, Andrew left two hours ago."

Lily looked to the man before he whispered, "Did I forget to mention that she can't see or hear me right now."

With bewildered eyes, Lily looked to her mother. "He says you can't see him."

"No one's there sweetheart."

The girl used what little strength she had and grabbed the closest thing to her, which happened to be the bathroom scale and heaved it at the man in the tub. "Mom, he's right there."

"It'll be okay Lil Bit. The ambulance is on its way. We're going to get you help."

"I DON'T NEED HELP!"

Her mother held her until the paramedics arrived, while Andrew stood in the tub, watching and laughing the entire time.

* * *

**Author's Note****:**_ So that was Lily's vacation. Story goes back to Bonnie for the next few chapters._


	9. The End of Heartache

It had been two days since Bonnie had seen the video message. Immediately after watching it, she had asked Damon to take her home. He had held her in her bed as she cried herself to sleep. The next morning they had showered together, before he had gone downstairs to make her breakfast, and she had checked her email. That's when she'd found her message. It was pretty much the same thing, Lily crying and apologizing, which only caused Bonnie to cry before climbing back into bed.

When Damon returned to the room with a tray of food, he saw his witch curled up in bed, arms wrapped tightly around one pillow, while her head was buried in the other.

"What's wrong?"

"I got my message from Lily," was the mumbled reply he received.

Damon set the tray down before he sat beside her and rubbed her back gently. He kissed her neck before he whispered into her ear, "We'll figure out what's going on out there."

Bonnie sat up before she looked Damon in the eyes. "Lily would never try to kill herself."

"Oh, I didn't buy that for a second. Hence me telling you that we'll figure out what's going on." He traced a tear down her cheek before he kissed her tiny nose. "I don't like seeing you like this and I know for a fact, Lily would never do something like this. That kid is too full of herself to '_rid the world of the awesomeness that is her'_, I believe would be the way she would phrase it."

Despite the shitty mood she was in, Bonnie found herself laughing, as she wiped her face dry. "You're right."

He scoffed. "Of course I'm right; it's just nice of you to finally admit it."

"So what are we going to do?"

Standing, he crossed the room, before opening her closet. "First, we're going to fly out to California, and then we're going to find out who's behind all this, kill them, straighten out this whole mess with Lily, then... unfortunately, bring her back here."

Bonnie smiled as she made her way to her dresser. "When do we leave?"

* * *

After some quick packing, the two made their way back to the Lockwood house. Bonnie rang the doorbell, while Damon waited in the car. After a minute Carol Lockwood opened the door, and stepped aside, so that Bonnie could enter the house.

"Bonnie, dear… I'm so sorry to hear about Lily." She grabbed the girl's hand before she pet it with her other. "It took all of us by surprise. She just doesn't seem like the type to do something so drastic. I mean, she always seemed to be…just…it's really unexpected."

The witch nodded. "It took me by surprise too." She looked around, before he eyes fell onto the woman. "Is Tyler home?"

Carol nodded. "He's upstairs in his room. I'll show you up if you want."

Bonnie shook her head. "That's not necessary. I'll see myself up."

"Okay dear. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to ask. Me and Richard absolutely adore Lily."

The witch tried not to roll her eyes, at the fake show of emotion, before she ran upstairs and into Tyler's room.

She closed the door behind herself, and looked at the mound of blankets on the bed. She saw a very toned arm sticking out from beneath the blanket, at the foot of the bed, and a foot resting against the headboard. She crossed the room and gently shook Tyler's body.

His head poked out from the blanket, before he began to roll onto his back, but thought better of it, clutching the blanket around his body.

"Why are you here?" he muttered after realizing it was Bonnie. He lay on his back, hands behind his head.

Bonnie shook her head. "Don't act like that."

"Don't act like what?" he asked. "As if we were actually friends at some point? The only reason we grew close was because of Lily, and now she's not coming back."

"Just because we grew close because of Lily, doesn't mean we're not close. I don't want to see you do this to yourself Ty."

The boy laughed. "Well then, I suggest you learn to ignore me, because honestly, I'm going to be this way for quite a while." He frowned. "I have nothing without Lily. I am nothing without Lily. She was my future, and now that she's gone, there's no point in anything."

Bonnie placed a hand on his shoulder, only to have him violently pull away from her. She took a step back, startled at the defensive action. "Damon and I—"

"I Don't Fucking Care About You And Damon! Get the hell out of my room, right now, Bonnie!"

She turned on her heel. "Fine, do nothing for the girl that you claim to be madly in love with. See if I care, you don't deserve her anyway." With that she stormed out of the room.

The witch waited in the hallway, hoping he would come out in just a few minutes, to redeem himself, and show that 'yes, he was that perfect boyfriend'. Instead, he stayed in his room and proved he was back to his old careless ways.

As she made her way down the stairs she heard his door open, so she stopped in the middle of the staircase and waited.

He approached her slowly before he extended his arm and opened his hand, palm up, to reveal the black velvet box.

"When you see her, can you give it to her?" he asked with tears in his eyes.

Bonnie shook her head. "You need to come with us and then you can give it to her yourself."

His eyes rolled up to the ceiling, to try and fight back more tears. "I can't go and see her like that…in a mental institution. It's already hard enough for me to not transform and rip everyone apart around me now, so I can't imagine what I'd possibly do if I saw her in there." He pushed the ring into her hands before he added, "Just let her know that whenever she's ready, I'll be waiting for her. No matter what, I'll love her until the end of time."

"If you love her so much, how will you ever be able to sleep, knowing that she's in trouble?"

Tyler shook his head. "I talked to Amy and she said that Lily doesn't want to have anything to do with me right now. So I just want to make things as easy for her as possible. Actually, going to **sleep brings release, and the hope of a new day**."

"So what are you going to do?"

"**I'll be waiting, for the end of my broken heart.**"

Deciding to push a little more, Bonnie started, "Tyler, you have to—"

"I told you, I can't!" he shouted. His eyes closed and he shook his head. "Please just go Bonnie."

Not wanting to be told again, the witch walked out of the house and hurriedly climbed back into Damon's car.

* * *

When the two made it to the manor, they told Elena and Stefan the plan, and the two immediately jumped on board with 'Operation: Rescue Lily'. Bonnie waited impatiently as Damon and Stefan each packed a light bag, and soon they were off to Elena's house, so that she could grab some things. Not soon enough, they were off to the nearest airport.

Through out the whole ordeal, Damon kept a hand on Bonnie, either her hand in his or his hand on the small of her back, he wanted her to know that he was there for her. She didn't speak much on the drive to the airport, only flipping through her grimoire and every now and then mumbling things under her breath. Damon assumed it was her trying to memorize spells.

At the airport, she didn't give Damon one dirty look or lecture, when he compelled the woman at the check in desk into giving them four complimentary first class tickets.

On the plane she sat beside Elena.

Halfway through the flight, Elena grabbed Bonnie's hand and whispered, "Calm down."

Bonnie shook her head. "I haven't done anything out of the normal."

"I know," Elena nodded. "You're too quite, too calm. You're only this tough on the outside, when you're breaking up inside."

The witch smiled before she leaned her head to the side, and Elena did the same, so that their heads were touching. "**You know me all too well**."

Elena nodded. "I do. And I also know that you're going to find a way to get Lily back."

"I just have this feeling, that she didn't do this to herself. There's just got to be something else going on."

"I don't disagree with you. She's just too…_Lily_ to try and kill herself."

Bonnie closed her eyes as she leaned her head away. "But what if I'm wrong? What if she really did just…try to kill herself?"

Elena's grip on Bonnie's hand tightened before she told her, "She didn't. Don't doubt that."

* * *

By the time the group landed in California, it was late. So they '_rented'_ a car, and '_checked into' _a hotel.

Damon sat on the bed, facing the TV, although his eyes hadn't left Bonnie once, while she had paced the room near the window.

After watching her for over an hour he called out, "Come here."

Bonnie stopped long enough to look at him as if he had grown two heads. "I can't calm down."

"That's why I told you to come here," he repeated.

She made her way over to the bed, and he grabbed her hand, making her crawl into bed, and into his arms. He held her tight, and kissed the top of her head. "We're going to straighten all of this out."

Bonnie nodded. "I know."

He shook his head. "No you don't, because if you did, you wouldn't be a nervous wreck right now."

"I'm sorry if I'm on edge…because you know, I'm really not used to my cousin trying to kill herself for no reason."

"I think it was Katherine." He told her so easily it was as if he had just mentioned that the sky was blue.

She leaned away from his chest, and looking him in the eyes. "What makes you think that?"

He shrugged. "She was just in Mystic Falls, harassing us, talking about how she wanted a new Bennett witch. Maybe this is part of some master plan of hers to get you."

"Through Lily?"

"She's very good at using people for her games Bon," he admitted. "Maybe this is her way of getting us out of Mystic Falls and out of our comfort zone. She probably knows that you'll do anything for your family, and I'm sure she knows that you love Lily like a sister."

Her brow furrowed. "How would she even know about Lily?"

"It's Katherine Pierce. She's very patient when it comes to her little games, and she's very meticulous about how they play out. I'm sure, before she approached either of us, she had been watching you for a while." He thought about this for a few seconds. "Hell, she's probably been watching your family for the past century and a half."

Bonnie shuddered before she pulled herself closer to Damon.


	10. Declaration

Author's Note: Me and my beta Zozo42, are already working on the next story, and we're both amazed that we're about six chapters ahead of the rest of you (don't worry, we won't spoil the story, I swear). And this new story is going to be epic, if I do say so myself. The story and chapters are going to be twice as long. Yay! And not only do I want to thank my awesome beta, I want to thank all of my awesome reviewers too. Some of you, I love reading your reviews... DiorNicole, Babyshan211, Quizas, PixelPerfect93, Ria-Dancer Girl, Lula6791, PixieChick20, Jayne1, Rapid Squirrell, ShyButterflyKiss, Infusion d'Iris, KhatF, Uchiha Kitsuma, jimi18, and mizzcullen13, you guys have been fantastic and so consistant in your reviewing. I also want to thank all the randoms that pop in every now and then too. I appreciate you guys as well.

Oh, and for everyone that's all shitty about Amy not believing Lily... Lily is that super over dramatic teenage girl who throws tantrums, lies, sneaks around, and is every person's worse nightmare. I probably should have explained Lily's past behavior with the former boyfriends a little more. In my mind, Lily's pulled some super shady shit with her mom and the BFs. But mommy will redeem herself.

And I hate to do this to you diehard Bamon fans, but next two chapters are going to be Lily... again, but it kinda sets up the ending of this story and the next. Again, sorry about that.

Anyways, I'ma shut up now, I'm not usually one for the uber long author's notes, but... deal with it. I felt chatty today *smileyface* And for some reason, this damn website won't let me add a linebreak, so use your imagination right here...

*LINEBREAK!*

The next morning Damon and Bonnie drove to Lily's house.

Bonnie rang the doorbell and the two waited. It wasn't long before the door was thrown open by Amelia, who wrapped her arms around Bonnie tightly.

"Oh my God, I wasn't expecting to see you at all," she cried as she held the teen tight. "Have you heard from her?"

The witch shook her head, and looked her aunt in the eyes after she'd let her go. "Not since she sent me the video. I wasn't sure if she was allowed phone calls or anything in the…hospital."

Amy stepped aside and watched as Bonnie crossed the threshold. She waited for Damon, and it took her a second to remember, before she invited him in. Once they were inside, she shut the door and as she leaned against it, let out a deep breath.

"She escaped with someone last night."

Her guests looked at her, completely flabbergasted, before Damon asked, "You did just say escaped, right?"

Amy smiled. "I know you heard me perfectly fine Damon, with that amazing hearing of yours."

"You Bennett women and…" Yet he stopped when he saw the daggers Bonnie was shooting him.

Ignoring the seething vampire, Amy told Bonnie, "The hospital just called me a few hours ago. They said that she wasn't in her room when they did their 4 AM check." She made her way into the kitchen, where she set a pot on for tea, and sat at the table. "I feel like such a failure."

Bonnie shook her head. "You definitely shouldn't." She sat across from her aunt before she grabbed her hands. "You're a great mom to Lily. You've been a great mom to me." She looked Amy in the eyes. "We both know what a complete brat that kid is, and I'm sure she's going to pop up here tonight, and give you a piece of her mind for locking her up in that place, and all will be well."

With tears in her eyes Amy nodded. "You're right. And then I'll hug her until my arms fall off, before wringing her little neck." She took a deep breath. "I tried to do a locating spell on her, but it hasn't worked. The only reason it wouldn't work is if she somehow blocked herself, and if she's done that, then that means she's been messing around with dark magic. Which is a Bennett no-no."

Damon shrugged. "I'd have to disagree."

"If you're talking about Emily, then… that was a very long time ago. We've learned from her mistakes."

Bonnie nodded. "What would have caused her to do such a thing?"

"She met one of my boyfriends."

With a roll of her eyes, Bonnie asked, "I really wouldn't think she'd still be acting so immature over you dating, but I have a feeling there's more to this."

"He really is a sweet guy," Amy started. "When I found her in the bathroom she said he had been the one to slit her wrist, and then she pointed to the shower, saying he was standing in it, but there was no one there."

"So, the kid _has_ lost her marbles?" Damon asked as he paced the room.

Ignoring her boyfriend, Bonnie turned back to Amy. "Is there anything I can do for you?"

Amy thought for a few minutes. "I want to stay here, in case she shows up, and I want to keep trying to locate her. If you wouldn't mind, I'd greatly appreciate it if you went to the…institution and got her things."

Damon nodded as he grabbed Bonnie's hand. "No problem. We'll get right to it."

"Thank you."

* * *

Before they made their way to the mental institution, they stopped back at the hotel and picked up Stefan and Elena. During the drive, Bonnie explained everything to them that she had learned from Amy and the two only sat in disbelief.

Once they'd parked outside, Bonnie asked Elena to come in with her, because she felt that her friend would be a little more supportive than Damon (for some reason).

They walked inside and at the information desk Bonnie asked the receptionist which floor they would need to go to. Without looking up, the lady checked the computer and jotted down the information. As she handed it to Bonnie she gave the girl a strange look.

"You look so much like her," the woman said.

Bonnie raised an eyebrow at the woman. "You remember what this one particular patient looked like?"

The woman smiled. "She threw such a huge hissy fit on her way in it was hard not to recognize her." The woman than turned to look at Elena, and when her eyes landed on her, her hand flew to her chest and she rolled back in her chair. "You can't come in here."

More shocked than the woman, Elena asked, "Why not?"

"You've caused enough trouble in this place." She looked across the lobby, to the security guard that sat behind a desk, mindlessly twirling his baton. "Antonio, she's back."

After hearing these words, Antonio jumped to his feet and quickly ran to the girls. Looking Elena straight in the eyes he told her, "You need to leave this place right now, or I will call the police."

The two girls looked to one another and came to the same realization.

"That's fine, I'll leave," Elena quickly replied. Turning back to Bonnie, she told her, "I'll send Damon in."

Bonnie shook her head. "I have a feeling he'll be less welcome than you, just 'cause he's…you know, an ass. Send Stefan."

Elena nodded, before she quickly turned and trotted out of the building. Less than a minute later, Stefan appeared in the lobby. No one said anything to the two as they walked across the space, and stepped into the elevator. Bonnie pressed the button for the third floor.

"So, my guess is Katherine was here at some point," Stefan said.

"Yeah," Bonnie mumbled as the wheels turned in her head. "Damon mentioned that Katherine might somehow use Lily to get to me. I just didn't think it made any sense."

Stefan frowned. "With Katherine, things tend to not make any sense. That is until you get to the end of the scheme and then everything just kind of falls together quite well." Bonnie closed her eyes as she tried to literally shake the thought from her head. "But, we'll do our best to make sure this plan doesn't pan out. We'll find Lily."

At this moment the elevator stopped, and the two stepped out and crossed to the nurses' station. Bonnie told the head nurse who she was, and that her aunt had sent her. The nurse excused herself and knocked on a door before she stuck her head into an office. She talked to the person inside, before she motioned for Stefan and Bonnie to come over.

The two made their way to the office before they stepped inside and the nurse closed the door after she'd stepped out.

The gray haired man seated behind the desk motioned towards the seats across from them and they sat.

"I'm Dr. Morrison," he began. "I had the privilege of watching over Lily during her short stay here. Her mother called and told me you were coming by." He looked at a note on his desk. "Bonnie, is it?"

The teen nodded. "And this is Stefan."

He nodded at the vampire. "I wish I could have met the two of you under better circumstances." He looked through a folder before he closed it. "During her short stay here, Lily was very adamant that her mother's fiancée had been the one to cut her. She told her mother that he was in the room with her but her mother said she didn't see anyone in the room with Lily."

"My aunt told me that."

Dr. Morrison frowned. "Well, when I talked to Lily, she came up with a story about her mother's fiancée being someone she had met before. She claimed that he was someone she had met while she was out East." He looked to Bonnie. "I believe… she said she was actually staying with you."

Not being able to respond, because she was too busy trying to register the shock of Andrew being back, she let Stefan answer.

"That's right. She was staying out in Virginia with Bonnie. I'm from that town too."

"Had she been acting strangely, at all, during her stay out there?"

Stefan shook his head as his brows furrowed. "Not at all."

The doctor looked through the folder again. "Well, for the few days she was here, she said that there was a woman visiting her. She said the woman looked like a girl she new back East, but went by the name…" He lifted his glasses and squinted at the paper, "Katherine. She said this woman was trying to convince her to leave with her. At first we didn't believe her, because no one by that name had signed in to the guest log, and no one remembered a woman fitting that description coming in. But after Lily escaped we went through the surveillance tapes and saw a woman coming in. She actually talked to a few of the staff members. She stood no less than half a foot away from them, yet none of them remember seeing her any night, or remember seeing this woman or Lily leaving. Yet video evidence shows that the two were let out by members of the staff and walked right out the front door."

Bonnie stood from her chair. "Thank you, doctor." She was about to leave when the doctor called out to her. She faced the man and he handed her a journal.

"All of our patients are required to keep a journal and write whatever they feel like, inside of it. Lily explicitly told me that, if anything were to happen to her, she wanted you to have it."

* * *

Bonnie sat in the backseat of the car, completely numb. She was vaguely aware of things that were happening around her. She heard Damon on the phone to her aunt, as Stefan drove. She felt Elena sitting close to her, not quite touching, but close enough to comfort the girl and let her know she was there for her. Back at the hotel room Damon drew a bath for her and, once she had stripped herself of her clothes, she slid into the water and leafed through the journal.

_Bonnie,_

_I feel like I'm losing my mind in here. It's crazy! But yeah, I guess that's the point of mental institutions. In case you guys haven't figured it out yet, Andrew is back. He's dating my mom, and they're actually engaged. He was the one who did this to me. He told me that he was invisible when he did it, and that my mom couldn't hear or see him. I swear I didn't do this to myself. I was uber happy. I didn't want to die. I don't want to die. I love you, mom, Uncle Curtis and Tyler so much, and I'd never do anything as selfish as kill the most awesomest person in your lives. This place is weird. I hate it here._

_Lily._

_Bonnie,_

_Last night I had a visitor. Actually I don't know if it was real or not. Maybe I am going nutsy-coo-coo. It could have been a dream for all I know. She says her name is Katherine, but she looked identical to Elena. It's weird because I told her that and she knew who Elena was. She actually said she knows all of you. Plus she says she can help me get out of here. At first I didn't believe her, but then she said she was a vampire. It's weird because today we had group therapy and strange enough there was a girl in the group who believes in witches and fairies and a bunch of other things. I laughed and told her there was no such thing as fairies._

_Lily._

_Bonnie B.,_

_Katherine came back last night. She says she wants to break me out. She told me that there's so much in the world that I need to see, and that she used to be BFFs with Emily. Now she wants me to accompany her. I told her that I had an awesome boyfriend back in the Falls and she told me that he had forgotten about me already. She said he made out with Meredith at the New Years Eve party, at the mayor's house. If that's true then I'm going to fucking murder the two of them. Seriously! MURDER! But it made me wonder how this random chick knows about me and Ty, but it kinda made me believe everything she was saying, if that makes any sense. Then she said there were ways for me to get back at Andrew, and now I'm thinking about taking her up on her offer, because this dickfaced doctor is talking about how he wants me to possibly stay here for at least a year. Psh, fuck that noise. I think if she comes back, I might have to jump at that offer._

_Lily B._

_Bon-Bon,_

_Katherine's back! I'm going to leave with her. She told me that I need to protect my mother and she says she has a shit ton of old spell books of Emily's. Apparently she thinks I can be uber powerful, but she thinks I'm wasting my time on a bunch of bullshit little spells. She said if I were up to my full potential, those jerks never would have gotten the chance to put me in here. So we've decided that__** no longer will I let myself be truly satisfied with the standard**__. She's going to break me out as soon as I'm done writing this. We're gonna lay low for a few days (somewhere far from here), then visit my mom, take care of Andrew, and then come back to the Falls for a visit. She told me that I shouldn't even waste my time visiting Virginia and that I should just go straight off to Europe with her, but I told her that I can't do that to my Lupin. So hopefully I'll be seeing you soon, hopefully before you even get to see this._

_Check ya later,_

_Lil-Lil._

The book slipped out of Bonnie's hand and landed on the floor beside the tub.


	11. World Ablaze: Part 1

Lily sat on the tiny bed, staring at the ceiling as she tossed a rolled up pair of socks, into the air. This place was terrible. Absolutely terrible. She'd fought tooth and nail as she had been brought in and yet here she was. They'd given her a journal to write in and she'd quickly tossed it onto the tiny desk that was in a corner in the room.

_Of course they think people in here are crazy_, she thought to herself. _Who wouldn't go crazy in here?_

After the 128th toss of her socks, because she wasn't denying she was a little OCD, she stopped before she began to pace the ten by eight foot room. Every now and then she peeked out the window. Out in the courtyard she saw some patients trying to catch butterflies, talking to plants and some talking to orderlies.

Her door wasn't locked, so it wasn't like she was actually trapped, but after seeing some of the people out in the dayroom, she didn't think she really wanted to interact with any of them because…well, she didn't belong here.

Finally she grabbed her journal and sat down at the desk. She searched the drawer for a pen and found that, of course, there weren't any. Only a mental institution would give you a desk and journal and no pen, just to make you think you were that much more loony.

She picked up the journal, opened her door and walked out of her cell, because that really was the only way she could think of to describe the _room_. Beyond angry she made her way to the nurse's station and slammed her journal onto the wrap around counter.

"Can I help you Ms. Bennett?" the pleasant looking elderly woman asked.

Lily frowned. "How the shit am I supposed to write in a journal without a God damn pen?"

The woman's brows furrowed. "Well, since you did try to commit suicide, you're not allowed to use any sharp objects without supervision. But, if you were to kindly ask for a pen, I'll gladly supply you with one, watch you write in your journal and take the pen back when you're done."

The teen shook her head, before holding up an index finger. "A. I didn't try to kill myself. Second, how the piss am I going to kill myself with a pen. And C, just give me a fucking pen."

"I don't think you deserve to use a pen using that kind of language."

Without another word, Lily picked up her journal, shook a threatening fist, and turned away from the woman. She began to walk around the dayroom, observing the room and the people. At a small table, she saw a woman, maybe in her early thirties, writing in a journal that sat in her lap, as she occasionally eyed the chess table in front of her.

"Hey," Lily started as she leaned across the back of the empty chair. "Almost done with that pen?" The woman nodded. "Can I use it when you're done?"

This time the woman shook her head. "I heard Mrs. Hill say that you're not allowed without supervision, because you tried to…" at this the woman pretended to hang herself.

With a roll of her eyes, Lily held up an arm, showing a bandaged wrist. "Razorblade, and I didn't do it, someone attacked me."

"That's what I told them, when I tried to kill myself, but they didn't believe me either."

Lily slid into the empty chair, before she looked at the chess board. She picked up a rook before she began to toss it into the air.

The woman eyed her, and when it went up on the eleventh toss, she grabbed it, before it could reach Lily's open hand.

"Don't play with the pieces if you can't play."

"I can play."

"Dr. Morrison says if people can't play chess, then they can't play with the pieces."

"I just told you, I can play, and I need to toss that piece one more time or I'm going to…" she paused here, not wanting to show her little quirk. "I just need to toss it again."

The woman frowned. "You have to play chess, in order to touch it."

"Fine, whatever, I don't care. Just give it back." She stretched her arm towards the woman. Yet the lady shook her head. "Fine, I'll play a game with you." The lady smiled before she handed Lily the rook back. "And I'm going to need to use your pen."

"I can't do that."

Lily stood and tossed the pen for the twelfth time. "Well then find someone else to play with."

Hearing this, the lady stood, agreeing to Lily's terms.

* * *

As she lay in bed, knees pulled to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs, she knew that it was going to be a long night.

She heard a tiny knock at her door and checked the time, of course it would happen to be 1:15, before her eyes slid to the door.

"Who is it and what do you want?" she called out.

Instead of getting a response she watched as the door opened and a figure slid into the room, before they shut the door behind them.

"Lily Bennett?"

"What?" Lily asked, before she reached to the little wall lamp over her bed and flicked it on. She quickly sat up when she saw who it was. "Elena?"

Yet the doppelganger shook her head. "No." She walked over to the bed, and sat at the foot of it. "My name's actually Katherine. I'm…a relative of Elena's. In fact, I know all about her, Bonnie, Stefan and Damon."

"How?"

"Like I said, I'm a relative, of sorts, of Elena's.

Lily tilted her head, studying the woman who had such a strong resemblance to her cousin's best friend. "Well, what are you doing here?"

"I came to help you leave this God forsaken place." Katherine gave Lily a friendly smile, before she stage whispered, "I know you're a witch. I know you're a descendant of Emily Bennett. In fact, Emily and I used to be really close." She watched the witch's mouth form to ask the question, but she answered before the girl could get it out. "Obviously, I'm a vampire. Come on Lil, I thought you were the smart one of the group."

The girl chuckled as she shook her head, then asked "Why would you want to help me escape?"

"I've watched you. You seem like fun." She leaned her head back and stared at the ceiling. "Plus, I'd like to consider it my good deed for the new century."

The succubus smirked. "Are you only allowed one every hundred years?"

"Life's more fun that way." The woman stood, before she extended her hand. "So, do we have a deal?"

Lily scoffed. "Of course not. I don't know you and you're a vampire—"

"As if I'm the only vampire you know. Plus…you're dating a werewolf," she stage whispered the last part.

The girl stood from her bed so that she was eye to eye with the vampire. "Why should I trust you?"

Katherine shrugged. "You probably shouldn't. But…I am the only one who has come looking for you."

"It's only been a day."

Katherine nodded. "Whatever. See you tomorrow."

* * *

The next morning, Lily ate her breakfast in the dayroom, and came to the conclusion that breakfast was equally as bad as dinner. '_Probably the same food, just burnt to shit and served again with a little cheese on the yellow stuff,_' were her exact thoughts.

After breakfast, the attendants set up chairs in a circle in a corner of the dayroom and everyone was required to sit there and tell their own stories.

Dr. Morrison looked around at the six girls before he rubbed his hands together and asked. "Who'd like to start?"

The red haired girl's hand instantly shot up. The others looked down, trying to hide from being chosen first. Yet Veronica, the woman Lily had played chess with the day before, pointed to the succubus.

"The new girl should start, since we all know each other."

Dr. Morrison nodded. "Good idea." He turned to the teen. "Lily, why don't you begin?"

Lily rolled her eyes before she let her head fall back. "Fine. My name is Lily, and my mom's boyfriend slit my wrists, and everyone thinks I'm crazy, so now I'm here. The end."

The red head frowned. "My mom's new husband used to touch me."

"I'm sorry," Lily told her.

A girl with mousy brown hair and the worse looking bangs chimed in. "Why does everyone think you're crazy though?"

"Because my mom didn't see him in the room."

"Why couldn't she?" A horribly thin girl asked as she pulled her sweater closed.

"Was he invisible?" The brown haired girl asked.

Lily pointed at her with a smile. "Yes!"

Dr. Morrison looked to Lily and shook his head. "Don't encourage them Lily. If you don't believe he was invisible then don't—"

"Is he a wizard like Harry Potter?" The thin girl interrupted.

"More like Voldemort," Lily replied.

Veronica leaned forward in her seat. "I believe in witches, and warlocks, and werewolves, and vampires, and fairies too."

Lily shook her head as she smiled. "Well, you had me up until the fairy part. Everyone knows fairies aren't real."

"That's enough Lilith," Dr. Morrison told her firmly.

The blonde, who had been quiet up until this point asked, "Have you seen any of those other things?"

"Psh! I'm a succubus and a witch and I'm dating a werewolf. My cousin's a witch who is dating a vampire." She turned her head back to Veronica. "But, there aren't any fairies. Well I guess I shouldn't say I don't believe in them. There just aren't any in our clique."

Dr. Morrison stood. "I think you should spend the rest of the day in your room."

Lily stood and began to cross back to her cell, before she turned to face them. "Can I at least get a pen?"

* * *

She waited until all the lights on the floor were out, and everyone was more than likely asleep before she allowed herself to cry, as she lay in bed.

Again, like the night before, there was a knock on the door. This time the vampire didn't wait for a response before she stepped into the room and shut the door behind herself.

"Still here?"

"Fuck you."

Katherine sat next to Lily on the bed, before she noticed the girl's shoulders shaking while she kept her head buried in the pillow.

"What's bothering you?"

Lily sat up, and wiped her eyes dry. "I'm stuck in a nut house, my mom is going to marry the man that tried to kidnap and kill me, and I miss my boyfriend."

"Don't worry about him. He's moved on." She saw the puzzled look on the girl's face. "At the New Year's Eve party, he was kissing some girl named…Meredith."

"Meredith Sulez?" Lily watched Katherine nod. "That was the girl he dated before me."

"Well then, I guess he moved back." Katherine watched Lily again wipe her eyes. "Plus there are so many boys in the world for you to explore and play with. I'm sure, being the succubus you are, you're probably dying in here from the lack of sex. The boys of Paris are very romantic, boys in Italy are very naughty, and the boys of Brazil…" she let out a low moan, "are so…good."

The teen shook her head. "But if I sleep with anyone other than Ty—"

The vampire smiled. "There are ways around that. I have a ton of Emily's old spell books, and the whole succubus thing should just be a hurdle we'll have to jump together. You can't just marry the first boy you fuck."

"But I love him."

"Didn't we go over this already? He's over you." She watched the girl lay back in bed. "There is so much in the world you need to see. So many things you have to experience. And a ridiculous amount of spells you can learn. Plus, I can teach you some things that can get that horrible Andrew fella out of your hair, forever." Lily's eyes grew wide. "Yea, I know your mother is a very powerful witch, but she's blind and in love. By the time she realizes there's something off about this guy, it might just be too late. I mean, I'm sure you want to protect your mother and we both know you can't do it from in here."

Lily opened her mouth to speak but Katherine shook her head.

"Don't say anything. Just think about it. Think about everything I said." The vampire headed for the door. "But, you know…maybe your friends will come rescue you tomorrow. If not, I'll be back, and you can tell me your decision then, because I'm not going to return a fourth time."

* * *

The next morning Dr. Morrison told her that he wanted to keep her for a year.

That night, Lily left the hospital with Katherine.


	12. World Ablaze: Part 2

Although the new clothes had been acquired in a less than honorable way, it felt good to be out of the terrible institution issued scrubs.

The young girl stretched her legs in front of her and her arms over her head. The red eye flight had been very uneventful, but most things would seem uneventful, after breaking out of a mental institution. Now they were at the airport, back in Virginia, and Katherine was getting a car for them.

The vampire pulled up next to Lily in the blinding yellow Stingray convertible and threw open the passenger door.

Lily slid into the car and fastened her seatbelt before the two took off towards Mystic Falls.

"You know convertibles are kind of cliché for girls on the run and they're kind of wasted in the middle of the winter on the east coast."

Katherine laughed. "I like you. You're funny."

Lily shrugged. "It just happens really. I don't try." The two sat in silence before Lily asked, "So, why did we come all the way back here, when my mom is in California with that scumbag?"

"Because you're not ready to take on that scumbag."

"But you can probably easily kill him."

The vampire nodded. "Very easily."

"So, why can't you kill him?"

"Because I don't want to deny you the satisfaction of doing it yourself." She continued to drive in silence until she asked, "So, where would you like to go first?"

Lily stretched as she yawned. "I'd love to see Ty first." She frowned. "Would you mind stopping there?"

Katherine shook her head. "Not at all."

So the vampire drove the little car through the still sleeping town and soon they were pulling up the long circular driveway of the Lockwood home. Katherine parked and told Lily she'd wait for her in the car. She told her to take her time, enjoy her man and only come back out when she was ready. Lily smiled before crawling out of the car and took the stairs, two at a time, up to the front door. Her finger pressed the doorbell and she heard the chime echo through the house before the door was opened.

Carol stood on the other side and her mouth almost fell open when she saw the smiling girl, who had told her son that she was never returning. Although she was very pleased to know that the young woman was okay, she was furious over the heartache the girl had put her son through.

"How can I help you Lily?" Carol asked before she let out a yawn.

The girl brought her gaze up from her shoes before she looked the woman in the eyes. "I wanted to see Tyler, if that's okay?"

Carol was going to object, remembering the night her son had had, but then thought better of it, and moved aside to allow the girl entry.

"Head on up. I'm sure he'll be very surprised to see you."

Not needing to be told again, Lily ran up the grand staircase, before making her way down the hall. Once she was outside Tyler's bedroom door, she bounced on her toes a bit, actually nervous, to see him again. Finally she opened the door and without thinking ran across the room.

She saw the form underneath the covers and made her way to the bed. She had almost reached her destination, when the door to the bathroom opened, and she saw her boyfriend, standing in the doorway, shirtless and slightly wet from his shower. Forgetting about the mound in the bed, Lily rushed into his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck, before attacking his face with her lips.

His arms went around her waist as he returned each kiss enthusiastically.

"I've missed you so much Kid," he mumbled, in between shock and bliss.

"I've missed you too."

At this moment Lily heard a noise from across the room and that's when she remembered that there was someone in his bed. Immediately she let him go and looked to the bed before she saw a raven haired girl's head pop out from beneath the duvet.

"Meredith…" was all Lily could say. She looked back to Tyler, whose mouth had fallen open, then back to the girl in his bed, who had the biggest grin on her face, and massive bed head. Lily turned back to Tyler. "I'm sorry…I didn't know." She shook her head. "I told you to move on, so I shouldn't have assumed…I'm sorry," she repeated before rushing out of the room.

Tyler was right behind her and before she reached the stairs he had one of her tiny hands in his.

She turned and faced him. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have just barged in."

"Stop," he demanded. "I know you're mad. Yell at me."

"I told you to forget about me. I shouldn't be upset that you're sleeping with Meredith again."

"Lily, you know I love you."

Lily nodded. "I know, but…you deserve someone like Meredith. I…shouldn't have come back. There's so much I have to do and it probably would be best if I took care of all that stuff."

He searched her eyes. "What kind of stuff do you have to take care of?"

"Andrew's back and I need to take care of that. Maybe I'll come back when I'm done. But you should be with a girl like Meredith, not someone who just escaped from a mental institution, and is on a mission to kill a warlock."

Tyler suddenly caught a scent that wasn't hers and said, "You smell like a vampire."

"Yeah, I've made a friend who's going to help me take care of Andrew." She gave him a big smile, before sliding her hand out of his. "Don't worry about me. I'll be alright. Maybe we'll catch up after a few years."

"No," he told her. "I'm not letting you leave me again."

"What's going on out here?"

The pair turned to see Meredith standing just outside Tyler's bedroom door, a bed sheet wrapped around her naked body.

Tyler shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Just…get dressed and leave."

"But I thought—"

"I told you that if there were a choice between you and Lily there's no decision to be made." He reminded the girl. "I'm not losing her again."

Meredith smirked. "Then you might want to go after her."

The boy turned back to where Lily had been standing and saw her at the bottom of the staircase, and heading for the front door.

When Lily climbed back into the car, and put on her seatbelt, she didn't say one word to Katherine.

"What happened?" the vampire asked.

"Nothing. You're right. He's moved on." She leaned back in the seat. "Let's go to Bonnie's house."

Katherine quickly pulled out of the driveway, and headed back across town.

* * *

When they pulled up in front of the house, the pair climbed out and headed to the porch. Lily reached above the door and grabbed the spare key from the frame before unlocking the door and the two headed inside. She called out to her uncle and Lily, and didn't hear a response. She ran upstairs and looked in Bonnie's room and saw nothing.

"Where did she go?" she asked as she searched the room with her eyes.

"Why don't you call her?" Katherine asked as she leaned against the doorframe of the witch's bedroom.

Lily smacked her pockets, before she answered, "I have no cell phone, and I don't know her number off the top of my head."

The vampire shrugged. "Maybe she decided to head somewhere warm for the rest of her break."

"Maybe." The succubus nodded. "This sucks. It's like everyone is just moving on with their lives." She plopped down on Bonnie's bed.

Katherine frowned. "You could call Elena and see if she knows where Bonnie is."

Lily nodded before she walked out of the room and headed downstairs to the kitchen. There she grabbed the cell phone that was mounted to the wall, before she found the Gilbert's number scrawled on the dry erase board on the refrigerator. She dialled the number and waited as the phone rang.

"Gilbert residence."

"Hey Jenna, its Lily. Is Elena home?"

"Hey sweetie. Uhm, I'm surprised Bonnie didn't tell you. She, Elena and the boys decided on a last minute trip to... I forget where, but I want to say Florida. They shouldn't be back for a few days. Did you lose her cell phone number?"

Lily fought back her tears. "Uhm, yeah. I lost my phone and couldn't get a hold of her at the house, so I figured I'd try Elena."

"Oh, well if you want, I can give you the girls' cell phone numbers so you can call them."

"That's okay. I don't want to interrupt their trip. Thanks Jenna."

"No problem sweetie. Take care."

"You too. Bye." She hung up the phone and placed it on the counter. "Florida! They fucking went to Florida, and my ex-boyfriend is already back in bed with the fucking town whore! Oh, and my mom is going to marry the fucking asshole that tried to kill me!" She kicked the refrigerator and watched the magnets fall to the floor. "Ughhh! I could kill someone right about now!"

Katherine looked to the girl, as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Fuck them all." She crossed the room, until she was directly in front of the teen. "Come with me."

"What do you mean?"

"Be my companion. We'll have a blast. We'll do whatever we want, acquire everything we want, and fuck whoever we want."

Lily was quite for a while, before she stated, "I don't know if I can live with myself if I left my mom with—"

The vampire grabbed the girl's arms. "When are you going to wake up and realize that no one believes what happened to you? That no one gives a fuck about you. People, are selfish, and only care about themselves. Stop trying to be so nice and kind to everyone and start giving a shit about the number one person in your life. Yourself. Come with me, we'll **set the world ablaze**. All of my years on the earth has taught me to enjoy my life, and I have. Since I've put myself at the top of the list, I've had absolutely no regrets. **Shed the weight of the world**."

"But what if they need me?"

Katherine rolled her eyes. "**Don't fear what awaits. We alone remain. Let the skies turn black, let the infection burn. This is the new beginning.** Fuck them all. Let's go have some fun." She nudged her. "What do you say?"

The girl wiped the tears from her eyes, before she gave Katherine a full smile. "So, there's some way for me to fuck other guys without fully turning?"

Katherine grinned before she wrapped her arms around Lily. "That's my girl." As the two headed out of the house, she suggested, "Maybe we should visit your mother first. So you can give her a proper goodbye."

Lily nodded. "That sounds legit." She wrapped her arms around the vampire. "I'm actually really excited."

"You should be. We're going to have a blast," Katherine told her. "But first, we're going to teach you some new magic and visit your mom. After that, I say we sweep across Europe."

The succubus faked a smile before she climbed into the car, put on her seatbelt and rested her head against the cold glass window.


	13. And Embers Rise

Bonnie woke the next morning, to the sound of her cell phone ringing. Damon muttered something about throwing the device through the wall and not wanting him to do so, she leaned across him to grab it from the nightstand. As soon as her body was over his however, he changed his mind about her needing to answer the phone. He grabbed the wrist of the hand that was reaching for the phone before wrapping his other arm around her waist and rolling her onto her back.

"Stop, it could be important," she muttered in between kisses. "I haven't been able to get a hold of Aunt Amelia and no one has seen Lily."

Damon shook his head. "You've left your aunt plenty of messages so I'm sure she knows what's going on and Lily's with Katherine so she's safe." The look that the witch gave him could have turned him to stone. "Honestly, if Katherine went through the trouble of convincing Lily to join her, I doubt she would kill her or let anyone else harm her, this soon. She's very possessive of what she believes is hers."

"But Katherine doesn't want Lily. She wants me, remember?" Bonnie's eyes softened as she looked into her boyfriend's baby blues. "She might hurt Lily to get to me."

Instead of responding, Damon used his knee to spread the witch's legs and work his in between her thighs. Her legs instantly wrapped around his. He gently rocked his hips, letting his erection come so close to her entrance, without penetration. Each time he moved towards her he watched her hold her breath and her eyelids began to grow heavy with lust. He buried his face in her neck and began to gently nibble at her flesh.

"I do need to power up," he whispered as his lips brushed across her throat.

Her arms wrapped around his neck as she braced herself for the throbbing pain that would soon come. "Go ahead." She whispered in return.

Immediately she felt his teeth sink into her neck and she couldn't help but remember Katherine doing the same thing to her. Yet this thought was quickly chased away as he entered her body, and caused another, much more welcome, throbbing to course through her.

As he drank from her his hips continued to move between hers and soon she began to move hers to meet him halfway. When he was done drinking from her he flicked his tongue over the wound before he brought his lips to hers.

Feeling light-headed, and tingly from head to toe, she couldn't resist the urge to bite his lower lip. She bit down hard, knowing he would thoroughly enjoy the feeling. He groaned into her mouth and soon he tasted the all too familiar metallic liquid on his tongue. Yet, he wasn't expecting Bonnie to suck on the cut herself.

And he came, which in turn caused her to giggle.

He closed his eyes before resting his head on her chest. "Don't judge me," he whined in a mocking childish voice. He took one of her nipples between his fingers before he carelessly played with it. He ignored the sensual movements her hips and shoulders involuntarily made. "So, who was it that tried to call you?"

She shook her head. "I don't care."

"Of course you do," he whispered, letting his cool breath rush over the bud, and laughed when her back arched. "Are you going to return that phone call?"

"Shut up," she moaned.

He moved his hand and looked up into her face, before sitting up. "That's awfully rude."

"You're being awfully rude right now." After saying this, she rolled her hips up to his, as she raked her fingernails down his back. Her legs slid up and around his hips. "I think you should finish what you started."

"I think I agree."

He wiggled out of her embrace before laying a path of kisses from her neck, down to her tummy.

Her phone began to ring again and, although she really didn't want to, she grabbed it off the nightstand.

"Hello."

"Bonnie, its Tyler. Lily just came to my house."

Sitting up, Bonnie looked to Damon to be sure he'd heard. "Where is she now?"

"She left and she reeked of vampire stink."

Nodding, Bonnie told him, "Okay, but where is she now?"

"I don't know."

* * *

Bonnie had tried calling her aunt again and was finally able to get a hold of her. Amelia admitted that she had finally been able to locate Lily and had flown off to Mystic Falls. Bonnie informed her of her conversation with Tyler and about what had happened with them and Andrew when he had popped into town. This caused the woman to cry, but soon she stopped herself and told her that she would head over to Tyler's house and see if he would help her search the town for Lily. Amy then told Bonnie that her, Elena and the boys were more than welcome to stay at her house. Bonnie was about to disagree, yet Damon quickly told her that they would.

When she hung up, she looked at her boyfriend completely baffled. "Why would you want to stay there?"

"In case Andrew shows up," he explained. "That way we can hopefully catch him somewhat off guard if he happens to pop up at the house."

Bonnie nodded. "Let's go tell Stefan and Elena, then head over, I guess."

The two quickly got dressed, before they headed to Elena and Stefan's room. Elena opened the door and let them in.

"Did you hear anything?" she asked.

Damon told them everything they had just found out.

"Is going to their house really the smart thing to do?" Elena asked. "He's probably watching the house now, waiting for either Amy or Lily to come back so he can finish the job."

Stefan placed a hand on Elena's shoulder. "Calm down. No one is going to _finish _the job."

Bonnie nodded. "I've been practicing. We should be able to handle him, if we all work together."

Damon smiled. "We need a cool team name." He saw the looks everyone gave him. "Oh come on. We need like a logo and a catch phrase and a stupid little dance or four-way high five." Again, no one said anything. "Fine, whatever. You guys all suck. Let's go."

* * *

Amy entered her brother's house with Tyler close behind her. She had been very disappointed to find the teen slightly drunk when she had arrived at his house. Yet after asking him for help he had immediately jumped into action, telling her that if there were anything he could do, she shouldn't hesitate to ask.

The pair had searched the woods and Tyler had told her that he could only faintly smell Lily there. The scent wasn't strong so he figured it was from when she had still been in town before Christmas break. They searched every place that one would assume a teenage girl or a vampire would visit and found nothing.

"Do you think she was here?" Amy asked the young man.

Tyler didn't say anything before he took off into the kitchen. There he saw a few refrigerator magnets on the ground and the cordless phone on the counter. He left the kitchen and quickly ran up the stairs. He entered Bonnie's room, before going down the hall to Lily's room. When he came back to the living room Amy looked at him confused.

"Lily and whatever vampire she's been hanging out with have been here."

Amelia went into her brother's office and looked at his map that was posted on the wall. She picked up a thumb tack before she whispered the enchantment. She tossed the tack towards Mystic Falls but it landed in California. Tyler, who had just entered the room, looked at her questioningly.

"She's back in California?"

Amy nodded. "Want to take another trip?"

"Sure."

* * *

Damon woke when he heard the front door open and close. He quickly slid on his jeans before slowly making his way to the bedroom door, as quietly as he could. He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway where he saw his brother already leaning over the railing, trying to see down into the front hall.

Stefan gave him a look, and Damon nodded, knowing exactly what his brother was asking. Yes, he had heard the door too, and no Amy and Tyler's flight should have just landed in California. His brother raised an eyebrow and Damon shook his head. No, this wasn't Lily, because he knew, from her coming home too early while he was "visiting" Bonnie, that the girl was very loud in announcing her arrivals.

"You boys can come on down. I know you're here and I'm sure you don't want to wake your girlfriends and bring them into the situation." The deep male voice announced.

The two quickly made their way downstairs. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs, as if blocking his path to their women.

"Why couldn't you just learn your lesson?" Damon asked the warlock.

Andrew shook his head as he approached the brothers. "I genuinely love Amy, it's just…I didn't want Lily to get in the way of something fantastic—"

"I don't care," Damon interrupted. "You hurt _my witch_ and _my witch's_ succubus. And then you hurt Lily again. We really can't let you just walk away after that."

"I'm not _walking_ anywhere. I'm staying right here and you two can either take your girls and leave or I can make you leave permanently."

At this moment, there was a flash of light in the middle of the room and when the light disappeared, Amelia and Tyler were standing in the room.

"That kind of hurt," Tyler mumbled before he leaned against a wall and promptly fell to the floor.

Amy immediately turned to Andrew. "Get out of my house."

Andrew grabbed her hands and she snatched herself away from him.

She closed her eyes and the brother's watched as Andrew's body began to violently convulse. A faint orange glow washed over his body as his eyes rolled to the back of his head. With what little strength he had, he reached forward and grabbed Amy's hands. Instantly the orange glow that had covered his body, crossed between the couple's hands before Amy's body was covered with the light and she fell to the ground.

Damon, Stefan and Andrew looked down at the woman's body.

The front door opened and they all heard, "Mom! I'm Home To Kill Your Fucktard Boyfriend!" Before Lily and Katherine entered the room.


	14. Wasted Sacrifice

**Author's Note****:** So, it appears as though people are losing interest in this story, therefore, I'm not quite sure as to whether I'm going to continue working on the sequel to this story. After this there are going to be two more chapters. Let me know if I should even bother finishing the next story.

* * *

The first thing Lily noticed was Andrew standing across from the Salvatore brothers. Her right hand went up in a yield motion, rendering Andrew immobile, before she brought the index finger of her left hand to her lips, silencing him. Her eyes scanned the room, trying to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. She saw Tyler, on the floor, back against the wall, passed out. Her brows furrowed before her eyes landed on the body in the middle of the room.

"What happened?" A voice from the top of the stairs questioned as Bonnie made her way down. She took in everything in the room, and when she saw Amy on the ground, she would have collapsed, had Stefan not grabbed a hold of her arms.

Between clenched teeth, Lily stated, as she looked to Damon, "That's the same thing I want to know."

Damon, actually a little freaked out by the dark look in the girl's eyes, as she continued to hold her hands up between her and Andrew, completely ignoring him for the moment. "We came here looking for you, he showed up, then your mom and Tyler came. Your mom started to cast a spell on him, and he grabbed her…I'm assuming reversing it back to her, and she collapsed."

What happened next, surprised everyone in the room, as Lily turned to Katherine and demanded. "Check her pulse."

Katherine shook her head. "I can't hear a pulse or breathing from her at all."

"CHECK IT ANYWAY!"

The vampire walked over to the woman on the floor, before she fell to her knees, and held two fingers to her carotid artery. "She's gone."

Lily looked back to Andrew and she saw the remorseful look in his eyes. Her hand that held him motionless, clutched into a fist, before she mumbled a few words in Latin, and then she opened her hand, palm side up.

"Holy Shit!" Damon exclaimed.

They all watched as the human heart in her hand continued to pump. She held it up, so that Andrew, who was still quite alive and healthy, could see it, before handing the organ to Katherine.

"It's all yours," she told the woman before she put down both hands and kneeled down in front of her mother, as though a vampire eating a pumping human heart, while said warlock watched, was an everyday thing.

Bonnie pulled out of Stefan's grip, before she kneeled down next to Lily and wrapped her arms around the girl. "I'm so sorry," she said, not bothering to comment on what she had just witnessed, although it was the most gruesome death she'd ever even heard of.

When Katherine was done with her meal she casually strolled into the kitchen to clean her face, and her two favorite boys followed. The two waited and watched as she cleaned the blood from around her mouth, before pouring herself a glass of water and taking a few sips.

Finally she placed the glass down to the counter before asking, "So guys, what's up?"

"How the hell did she do that?" Damon asked.

Katherine crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh that? I just showed her some of Emily's old books I happen to have laying around." She looked around the room, before mentioning, "The girl took to dark magic quite well, after I brought up the whole "revenge against the kidnapper warlock" thing. She's _really_ good. Oh, and she's a super funny."

Stefan couldn't believe he had just heard Katherine Pierce, gushing over a seventeen year old girl. "You talk as though she's your new boyfriend."

"Girls can't be boyfriends Stefan." She told him. "However, I will take her as a girlfriend, which is saying a lot, because it really takes a special sort of girl to catch my eye."

"You're not taking her anywhere." Damon told her, almost as though he were stating a fact.

Katherine smirked. "Look, this isn't a negotiation. I'm taking her…unless you're willing to give up your witch."

Stefan stepped forward, arms crossed over his chest. "After we tell Lily _who_ and _what_ you are, she's not going to want anything to do with you."

She nodded. "Keep believing that." She turned back to Damon. "Like I said, it's either Lily or Bonnie. I really really want Lily, but Bonnie will do."

"You're definitely not getting Bonnie."

Katherine smiled. "You really do love that mediocre witch huh?" Seeing the older Salvatore brother's frown deepen, she continued. "Fine, if Lily agrees to come with me, and you two don't try to play superhero later down the line, then I'll leave you both, and your little girlfriends, alone." She looked from one brother to the other before extending her hand. "Deal?"

Damon looked to Stefan and nodded.

Stefan uncrossed his arms and took a step away from the two of them. "You aren't honestly thinking about going along with this, are you?" He asked his brother.

"I don't want her coming after Bonnie and I'm sure you don't want her going after Elena."

"No, I don't," Stefan said, "But we can't just offer Lily up like a fucking goat, to protect them."

Damon shook his head. "There's no guarantee the little succubus is going to agree with something like that anyway. Not after we tell her the real deal about Katherine." He looked to the woman. "And why should I believe you anyway?"

Katherine shrugged. "I know you have absolutely no reason to believe me. But I've lost a lot **because of greed and hatred**. I lost both of you, I lost Emily and a ridiculous amount of other things. Do you know how absolutely lonely it is to wander the world alone? I need a companion. I like Lily, a lot, and if you guys let me take her, with no hassle now, or later on down the line, then I will let the two of you be happy with your girls." She looked to Damon. "But, I don't want to see a certain little green eyed witch following us or trying to execute some ill fated plan, because then I won't hesitate to kill her," she pointed to Stefan, "your little girlfriend and the two of you."

Stefan looked to his brother. "You can't seriously be considering this? Bonnie will murder you, and me, if she finds out."

Damon smiled to his brother. "Which means, you need to keep your mouth shut or Elena will murder you too for not stopping me."

"What makes you think I won't tell the girls?"

Katherine looked to the young vampire. "Because you don't want me to leave this room and kill both of them and take Lily anyway." She saw the look Stefan shot her before she added. "I can easily take both of you, with me being… _more mature_." She looked back to Damon, before again extending her arm. "So, do we have a deal?"

He nodded as he grabbed her hand. "Deal."

* * *

Bonnie held Lily tight. "Don't leave again with Katherine," she begged.

Lily shook her head. "There's nothing really left for me anymore."

"Your mom sacrificed her life for yours; if you go with Katherine you'll be letting her **sacrifice waste away**. She died protecting you from evil, and it will be a smack in the face, if you just walked out the door with Katherine voluntarily."

The younger girl shook her head. "I know everything about Katherine… everything about her, Stefan and Damon. I know who and what she is and what she's capable of doing."

"And you still want to go with her?"

Lily stood. "Why not?"

"Because she's not going to do anything but get you into trouble and situations you don't want to be in. And what about Tyler?" she asked gesturing to the boy who was starting to wake.

"My life has gone to shit in the past few months and I just want to not care about anything, and be happy. I want to enjoy the rest of my life. What's the point of love and school and all that bullshit, if I'm constantly going to have some kind of supernatural asshole coming to kill me? With Katherine, I know she wouldn't hesitate to murder someone who is after me. I feel safe with her. I want to enjoy my life."

"But Katherine does bad things."

Lily rolled her eyes. "I'm a demon." She looked her cousin straight in the eyes. "I constantly have the urge to do evil and violent things. I just never acted out on them because I was so concerned with what people would think of me. All those times I've threatened to destroy faces, choke people, and all those other stupid threats, it has really taken everything in me to hold back from doing those things. Katherine told me, that its part of my nature. She says I need to act out on those feelings every now and then or I'll snap."

Bonnie grabbed Lily's hands as she began to sob heavily. "But you're a good person."

"With a horrible person stuck inside of me." She smiled at her cousin. "I know you don't want to, but you've got to let me go. I'll be okay."

"But…" Lily stared at her waiting for a response, to which Bonnie only mumbled, "I love you."

Lily kissed her cheek. "I love you too Bonnie B."

Katherine strolled into the room before she extended her arm to Lily. "Ready to go?"

Lily smiled a bit, before she crossed the room and grabbed the vampire's hand. "Yeah, let's go."

Tyler woke as the two made their way out of the door. He climbed to his feet and stood still for a few seconds, waiting for the room to stop spinning and his head to stop pounding. Yet, soon he was out the front door. He quickly crossed the yard before grabbing Lily's arm and snatching her away from the vampire.

"You can't go."

"I can and I am."

He looked into her eyes. "I was going to propose to you on your birthday. I have the ring. Just let me marry you. I love you."

"I love you too, Ty."

Tyler pulled her arm again, pulling her towards the house. "Let's go back to the Falls and spend the rest of forever together, like we'd planned."

Yet Lily pulled out of his grasp, and as she backed away from him and towards the waiting car, she told him, "**There is no forever, just today**."

* * *

**Author's Note Part Deuce****:** _There will be two epilogues after this, and then this story will be complete. Also, this chapter sets up the next story. Lily's gone rogue!_


	15. Hope Is

**Author's Note****:** _So yeah, I'm doing both of the epilogues together. So this story is donezo. I'll probably post the next story sometime this week. The first one is Lily and Katherine, and the second is Bamon! This epilogue kinda sets up the next story._

* * *

The platform, knee high boots splashed through a puddle and but the girl only laughed as she made her way through the alley. As she walked, her skirt moved dangerously high, exposing a tiny glimpse of her panties. The brown skinned girl continued to sway down the alley, her hand clutching the half empty bottle of wine that she held in front of her and occasionally took swigs from. Her hair was short, sides and back slicked down, while the top was spiked into a faux-hawk.

Half way down the alley, she stopped and leaned against a dumpster before she downed the rest of the bottle in her hand. Obviously, this American girl was thoroughly enjoying her stay in Paris, and was also foolish enough to drink openly on the street, dressed so scandalously, and alone. It was almost as if she were begging to become the stereotypical traveling American girl who never returned from her post high school graduation trip.

When she'd finished off the bottle she set it on the ground instead of placing it in the dumpster behind her. She reached into the pocket of her cropped hooded sweatshirt, before pulling out a pack of cigarettes. She slid one out and placed the filter in her mouth; it was practically falling from between her lips, as she lit it. She took a few drags before continuing her journey through the alley, giggling at nothing and being happy with everything.

As she passed Claude, she gave him a seductive half smile and a "bonjour" escaped her pouty lips, before she continued on her way. He could almost smell the pheromones pouring off her.

He took a step towards her. "Excusez-moi manqué."

She stopped and turned her green eyes towards him. "Oui?"

"Vous êtes Américain?"

"Oui."

"Quel est votre nom, belle?"

She again, gave him that tiny smile. "Lilith."

At this he grinned. "You know that Lilith means demon." He took a step closer to her. "A name that is not very fitting of you."

Her teeth bit into her glossy bottom lip and she looked at him through half open eyes. "I beg to differ. The name describes me quite well. I'm the demon that sneaks into men's beds and fucks them senseless."

"I don't believe you to be a demon. Vous êtes charmante." He saw the confused look on her face, before he repeated in English. "You are enchanting."

Her face flushed, from the wine and the compliment. "Merci." She bowed her head, before she continued on her way. Yet she felt him grab her wrist. "I'm sorry, but you are being very rude and should let me go."

Claude gave her a drunken smile of his own. "But I want to see just how well you… fuck."

She laughed. "You really don't want to see that. Some men never recover."

He grabbed her other wrist before he backed her up against one of the brick buildings in the alley. "I think I'm willing to take my chances." Lilith threw her head back as she let a laugh escape her throat. "I believe you have had too much to drink ma cherie, this is not a game."

"It really is, because right now, you are playing with your life. So I advise you let me go, before you do something that you will regret."

His hand grabbed her throat and he held it tight. He felt her pulse throbbing under his hand and he slid his other hand up her skirt, grabbing a fistful of her panties. Before he could yank them down however, he felt himself being snatched away from her and thrown against the opposite building. He fell into a puddle and, as he crawled to his knees, he saw a gorgeous brunette standing above him. The woman grabbed him by the throat before she lifted him off his feet and pushed him against the building.

"She tried to warn you," the new woman informed him.

Lilith appeared behind the woman, and peered over the woman's shoulder, at the man. "I really did."

Claude's eyes moved from one face to the other. The brunette's eyes were very dark, and horrible dark veins covered her face as she faced the brown skinned girl.

"What should we do with him?"

Lilith laughed. "Don't even play that game Katherine. I don't care what you do to them. I just like to lure them in. After that, they're yours to play with."

Katherine looked the man over. "He's not really _that_ unattractive."

"But he's not really _that_ attractive." She let out a breath. "I'm still playing with Remy."

At this Katherine smiled. "Ahh… Remy." She turned to face the girl. "I really think you need to share him."

"Nope."

"But you aren't even using him properly. Just teasing him mercilessly." Lily shrugged. "This trip is supposed to be about having fun."

Lily pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I am having fun."

"I meant sexy fun."

"I know what you meant." She then looked back to Claude. "Are you going to do something with him soon? He's looking very pink in the face and very pathetic."

Katherine grabbed the man's head in her hands and quickly and efficiently snapped his neck. She let him go and they watched his body fall lifelessly to the ground.

Lilith frowned as she continued down the alley. "I told you to warn me before you kill them. I don't like to watch."

The vampire slid her arm around the succubus' shoulder, before she lightly shook the girl. "Let's not worry about that." She sighed. "Let's talk more about sharing Remy."

"There will be no sharing of Remy."

"You're such a demon."

"You're a bitch."

"When do you want to leave this city?"

Lilith shrugged. "Soon, I'm really growing bored of this place."

"Where would you like to go next?"

They exited the end of the alley before Lilith replied. "Rome?"

Katherine nodded. "Rome it is."

* * *

Bonnie knew that it wasn't healthy to spend as much time in that room as she did, but she really couldn't help herself. Her father had told her it wasn't healthy, Damon, didn't say anything on the matter.

Yet after grabbing her cup of tea from the kitchen, she'd made her way up the stairs and although she had totally planned on going to her room, her body had instinctively turned to the door that was shut tightly. She shuffled down the hall and grabbed the doorknob tightly in her hand before turning her wrist.

The door opened easily and she quickly slipped inside, closing it behind herself.

She set her mug on the nightstand before she kneeled on the floor in front of the map.

It had been a normal map of the world until she had conjured it to expand, almost completely covering the empty floor space between the bed and the furthest wall. There were now more details on the map then there had been when she had bought it. Names of almost every town were bunched into the states and the same for other countries.

Every night she made her way into this room and did the same thing, hoping that maybe, just _maybe_, Lily was heading home. Every night she was disappointed to see the complete opposite. But she never gave up hope.

Reaching into the top drawer of the nightstand she grabbed the tiny black case and pulled it close to her. Her fingers ran over the velvety softness, before she opened it, to find the ring. The ring that Tyler was going to present Lily with before she'd decided that she wasn't returning. She slipped the ring out of the case and held it in her palm, whispering the words that came to her as easily as her name now.

When she was finished she placed the ring onto the map.

It stood, so the tiny diamond was facing skyward, before it began to spin and roll around the map. Her eyes followed as it made its way from Mystic Falls, across the Atlantic Ocean, and over into Europe, where it had gone every night, although weekly, it changed to a different country. For almost three weeks the ring had gone immediately to Paris, tonight however, it stopped on Rome.

Bonnie snatched the ring up and climbed to her feet. She placed the ring back into its box before returning it to the nightstand. She sat on the bed and grabbed her hot cup of tea before she took a long sip.

It had been three months of this. Three long months of wishing and hoping that her cousin would return a phone call, a text, an email… anything. The girl had missed her mother's funeral, having skipped town with her newly acquired friend, immediately after the events at her house in California. Bonnie and Curtis had done everything to try and find her. They'd appeared on the news, put up flyers and started a website, hoping that someone would post something about Lily's whereabouts.

It had been surprisingly easy for Bonnie to deal with Lily's disappearance. Until she and Damon had been grabbing food from a diner, two towns over. She had been standing beside him as he stood at the register and paid there bill. Eagerly, she began digging into her purse, to drop change into the little clear display, for a piece of candy. The ones that were always next to the registers at places like this, and no one really paid attention to until they saw a piece of candy they had to have.

She'd dropped in her quarter and retrieved a tootsie roll, full of smiles from her future treat, until she'd seen the picture that was taped to the front of the display.

That was the moment that it sank in for her.

The moment she realized that, in all honesty, she was more than likely never going to see her cousin ever again. She'd broken down into a mess of tears, clutching the tootsie roll as Damon wrapped his arms around her and pulled her out of the restaurant. He'd held her tight as she cried, waiting until she was calm and breathing regularly, heart rate almost back to normal, before he asked her what had happened.

After she'd told him, he had reassured her that she would see Lily again, and when she'd shaken her head in disbelief he'd kissed her temple. He told her that knowing Katherine, she would eventually return to town with Lily in tow. He confessed that the Lily they had known might be replaced by a much darker and disturbed version of herself, but she'd be back. They would have to scheme up a way to rid themselves of Katherine once and for all and eventually have Lily back, and a not so drugged out and alcoholic Tyler.

Thinking of Tyler almost brought fresh tears to her eyes.

If they had thought he'd been broken up by Lily's sudden decision not to return home before the New Year, the Tyler who believed his bond mate was gone for good was a disaster.

He'd taken up drinking much more heavily and drugs were like an afternoon snack for him now. Most people in town ignored the drunken antics of the boy because his father was Mayor Lockwood, and really, no one dared to try and tell a Lockwood they couldn't do something in Mystic Falls.

He'd wrecked his car that he'd had so much pride in. The one that he'd only allowed Lily to lean against and sit on and no one else because she wouldn't let him not let her. The car that he said still had her lingering smell in it so he wouldn't let anyone else in it because they might take away that last scent of her.

Every now and then, when he knew Bonnie's father was out of town he'd find his way over to her house. The first time he'd come over completely hammered and asked the simple question, Bonnie had refused, telling him that she would never allow him to do such a thing while in the state that he was in because Lily would never allow it.

So the next day, he had returned to the house completely sober and Bonnie had let him in and allowed him to sleep in Lily's bed.

A tap on the window brought her back to reality and she peered over her cup to see a crow perched outside. She pointed with her thumb to her bedroom before she stood and walked to the door, shut off the light, and made her way to her bedroom.

She waited until her door was closed before she turned on the light and saw Damon sitting on her window seat.

"You know, I'm starting to agree with your father. This is getting quite worrisome."

"What are you talking about?" she asked as she set down her mug.

He frowned. "You know exactly what I'm talking about." He watched her jaw tighten and her lips turn into a straight line. "This whole searching for her on the map thing, hoping she's headed back here… all it does is bring you down the further away she gets."

Bonnie's face fell and her lips trembled. "But she might come back sometime."

Damon nodded and crossed the room, before wrapping his arms around her, and allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder. "And if she decides to come back you know she'll come visit you. You staring at that map every night isn't going to make her come home any sooner, if she decides to come back at all."

"I just really miss her."

He smiled. "I _kind_ of miss her," he admitted before he kissed Bonnie, hoping she never found out his role in Lily's disappearance.


End file.
